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BERKELEY 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
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S1ANDARD 

HISTORICAL   SCHOOL   SERIES 

BY    S.    G.    GOODRICH. 


1.  GOODRICH'S  PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

AND  OTHER  PORTIONS  OF  AMERICA. 

2.  GOODRICH'S  PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 

3.  GOODRICH'S   PICTORIAL  HISTORY  OF  FRANCE. 

4.  GOODRICH'S    PICTORIAL    HISTORY    OF    GREECE,    ANCIENT 

AND  MODERN. 

5.  GOODRICH'S    PICTORIAL   HISTORY  OF  ROME  AND   MODERN 

ITALY. 

6.  GOODRICH.— PARLEY'S    COMMON  SCHOOL   HISTORY— A  Brief 

Compend  of  Universal  History. 
1.  GOODRICH'S  FIRST  HISTORY— An  Introduction  n  Parley's  Com- 
mon  S«.a^ol  History. 


A  PICTORIAL 

HISTORY  OF  GREECE; 

ANCIENT  AND  MODERN. 


BY    S.   G.   GOODRICH, 

AUTHOR  OP  PETEB  PAULEY'S  TALES. 

FOR  THE  USE  OF  SCHOOLS, 

REVISED  EDITION. 

PHILADELPHIA: 
PUBLISHED  BY  E.  H.  BUTLER  &  CO- 

JOHM  4?>RELL 

Civil  &  Mechanical  Engineer. 


Hntered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  vear  1S4* 
BY    S.    G.    GOODRICH, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


PREFACE, 


]x  the  foL  jaing  pages,  in  the  compilation  of  which  the  author  ac.Kuowl- 
edges  great  obligation  to  the  excellent  history  of  Greece,  by  Chambers, 
an  attempt  has  been  made  to  give  an  ample  and  faithful  account  of  the 
Ancient  Greeks,  and  to  present  in  detail,  a  view  of  their  manners  and 
customs,  their  modes  of  thought,  speech  and  action.  A  large  space  is 
devoted  to  their  celebrated  men,  and  especially  to  their  philosophers, 
poets,  historians,  and  artists. 

This  work  is  the  fourth,  in  a  series  of  histories  intended  f<  r  Schools 
The  first  relates  to  the  United  States  ;  the  second,  to  England ,  the  third 
to  France  ;  and  the  fifth,  to  Rome. 

Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1855, 

BY    S.    G.   GOODRICH, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of 

New  York. 


P. 


Civil  &  Mechanical Engineer.pFQii- 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL.  G  U^T 

CONTENTS  u^g-f 


INTRODUCTION. 

Pkd 

Chapter  I  —Glance  at  the  Early  History  of  Mankind, g 

II. — Greece — its  Present  Condition, .13 

III. — The  Geography  of  Ancient  Greece, 16 

IV. — Plan  of  the  History, 18 

PERIOD    I. — POETICAL    AND    TRADITIONARY    HISTORY    OP    GREECE. 

From  the  earliest  times  till  the  Institution  of  the  Olympic  Feat i en f,  884   U.  0. 

V.— The  Titans, 19 

VI. — The  Hellenes,  Inachus,  Cecrops,  Cadmus,  and  Dana  us,    ...  21 

VII. — Pelops  and  Hercules, 22 

VIII. — Argonautic  Expedition, 25 

IX. — Theseus,  continued, 27 

X. — Theseus,  continued, 29 

XI. — Theseus,  continued, 30 

XII.— The  Trojan  War, 32 

XIII.— The  Trojan  War,  continued, 33 

XIV.— The  Heraclidae, 35 

XV. — Codrus — Greek  Colonies, 36 

XVI.— Institution  of  the  Olympis  Festival, 38 

XVII. — Games,  continued, 41 

XVIII.— Grecian  Mythology.— Classification.— Jupiter, 44 

XIX. — Apollo,  Mars,  Mercury, 47 

XX.— Bacchus, 49 

XXL— Vulcan, » 61 

XXII.— Juno,  Minerva, 63 

XXIII.— Venus  and  Cupid 66 

XXIV. — Diana,  Ceres,  and  Vesta, 68 

XXV. — Marine  Gods. — Neptune,  Triton,  Oceauus,  and  Nereus,     ...  62 

XXVI. — The  Infernal  Deities.— Pluto,  Plutus,  and  Somuus,  ....  65 

XXVII.— The  Terrestrial  Gods  and  Goddesses, 67 

XXVIII.— Aurora, 69 

XXIX.— The  more  ancient  Gods, 74 

XXX. — Nymphs,  Satyrs,  etc., 76 

XXXI.— The  Muses,  Graces,  and  Sirens, 77 

XXXII. — Furies,  Fates,  Harpies,  Lares,  and  Manes,          ....  80 

XXXIIL— Demi-gods  and  Heroes,         ........  82 

XXXIV.— Esculapius,  etc .        .        1        .        .  87 

XXXV. — General  View  of  Grecian  Mythology,           .        j        '.        .        .        .  90 

XXXVI. — Future  State — Reward?  and  Punishments,         .....  91 

XXXVII. — Religious  Kites — Temples— rPrjests,     .  '      .        .        .        .        .        .93 

XXX VI II.— Oracles,  .............  95 

XXXIX.— The  Amphictyonic  Council,          ........  97 

XL.— Poetry  of  Period  I.— Homer,        ........  98 

XLI. — Poetry  of  Greece — Homer— Hesiod,     »...',..  100 

PERIOD     II. 

From  the  Institution  of  the  Olympic  Festival,  884  B.  C,  till   the  Commence- 
ment  of  the  Persian   War,  493  B.  C. 

XL1I. — Political  Condition  of  Greece. — Lycurgus,          .        .                .  103 

XLIII. — Lycurgus,  continued,  , 10ft 

XLIV. — Lycurgus  establishes  his  Code,    ...                ....  107 

XLV. — Code  of  Lycurgus,  continued, 109 

XL VI. — System  of  Lycurgus,  continued. — His  Death,    .                ...  118 

XL VII.— The  Messeni'an  Wars, llfl 

XLVIIL— Troubles  in  Athens.— Draco's  Code.             .                         ...  119 

1*  (5) 


143 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Page 

XLIX.— Solon's  Reform, 120 

L. — Solon's  Code,  continued,     ....                ....  T22 

LI.— Solon's  Travels, 124 

LII. — Solon's  Return. — Usurpation  of  Pisistratus, 126 

LIII. — Ilippias  and  Hipparchus, 128 

LIV. — Manners    and    CusUms    of    the    Ancient    Greeks. — Dress. — The 

Women, .  130 

LV. — Classes;  occupations;  amusements;  meals;  edueatten;  marriages; 

funerals, .  133 

LVL— Armies.— Warfare.— Fortified  Towns, 136 

LVII. — Greek  Ships  of  War. — Houses,  Furniture,  Ac,         .                .        .  140 

LVIII.— Poets  of  the  Second  Period, .  144 

JLIX. — Sages  and  Philosou^rs  of  the  Second  Period. — The  Seven  Wise 

Men,    .                147 

LX.— The  Seven  Wise  \    -,  continued, 148 

LXI. — The  Seven  Wise  M«n,  continued, 151 

LXII. — Philosophers. — Anaximander;  Pythagoras, 153 

LX1II. — Pythagoras,  continued. — JEsop,          .                        .....  156 

PERIOD    III. 

from  the  Commencement  of  the  War  with  Persia,  493  B.  C,  till  th0  Capture 
of  Athens  by  the  Lacedaemonians,  404  Ii.  C. 

LXTV. — Assyrian  and  Persian  War  upon  Greece,  by  Darius,        .        .        .  159 

LXV—  Battle  of  Marathon, .162 

LXVL— Miltiades— Aristidos  —  Themistocles, 166 

LXVII. — Athens  increases  her  >,'avy. — Xorxbc'  Preparations  for  invading 

Greece, 169 

LXVIII. — Advance  of  the  Persian  Army, 172 

LXIX.— Defence  of  Thermopylae, 176 

LXX.-  -The  Contest  at  Sea,      . 178 

LXXI. — A  large  Portion  of  Greece  devastated  by  the  Persians,    .        .        .  180 

LXXIL— Battle  of  Salamis, 183 

LXXIII.— Retreat  of  the  Persians, 187 

LXXIV.— Dishonesty  of  Themi-tocles, 188 

LXXV.— Battle  of  Plataea.— End  of  the  War, 190 

LXXVL— Fortifying  of  Athens, 193 

LXXVIL— Themistocles 196 

LXXVIIL— Cimon;  Splendor  of  Athens, .  199 

LXXIX.— Rebellion  of  Spartan  Helots.— Rise  of  Pericles,        .        .        .        .201 

LXXX.— Ascendency  of  Pericles, 204 

LXXXL— Power  of  Pericles.— Athens  at  War  with  Corinth,    .        .        .        .206 
LXXXII. — Commencement  of  the  PfejOponnesian  War. — Accusation  and  Dca\Ji 

of  Pericles, 209 

LXXXIII.— Cleon— Nicias— Alcibiades, 212 

LXXXIV.— Flight  of  Alcibiades, .        .216 

LXXXV.— Discord  at  Athens.— Recall  of  Alcibiades.— His  second  Disgrace.— 

His  Death, 219 

LXXXVL— Origin  of  the  Drama.— Dramatists  of  the  Third  Period,          .  222 

LXXXVIL— Dramatists,  continued, 225 

LXXXVI1L— Poets  and  Historians  of  the  Third  Period,        ....  22? 

IiXXXIX.— Philosophers  of  the  Third  Period,      ....  230 

XO— Socrates, 23S 

XCL— Arts.— Artists  of  the  Third  Period, 241 

PERIOD    IV. 

From  the  Capture  of  Athens  by  the  Lacedaemonians,  404  B.  C,  till  the  Sub- 
jugation  of  Greece  by  the  Romans,  146  B.  C. 

XCIL— The  Thirty  Tyrants.— The  Council  of  Ten, 244 

XCIII.— Cyrus.— Artaxerxes  —  Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand  Greeks,         .  246 

XCIV.— Agesilaus.— War  with  Persia, 252 

XCV.— Efforts  of  Conon  in  behalf  of  Athens, 254 

XCVL— The  Olynthian  War,   ....                257 

XCVII.-^-Epaminondas, .        .  261 

XCVIIIr— Battle  or  Arfmctra— Jason  of  Pherae,        .        .                                .  264 

XCIX.— Invasion  of  Laconia,   ...  268 

C,— Alliance  of  Athens  and  Arcadia,                                                    .  273 


CONTENTS.  VII 

Page 

CI. — Olympic  Festival. — Death  of  Epaminoudas, 273 

OIL— Philip  of  Macedou, 278 

CIIL— Athens.— The  Social  War, 2S0 

CIV. — Amphipolis  taken  by  Philip. — His  Marriage, 2S2 

CV. — Proceedings  of  the  Amphictyons. — Phocian,  or  Sacred  War  begun. 

— Phocians  routed  by  Philip, 284 

CVI. — Thermopylae  closed  against  Philip. — Demosthenes,  the  Orator,  .  288 
CVII.— Attack  on  Olynthus  by  Philip.— Pall  of  Olynthus,  .  .  .292 
CVIII. — Athenian  Embassy  to  Pella. — Macedon  made  an  Amphictyonic 

State, 295 

CIX.— Cessation  of  War  in  Greece, 297 

CX.—Capture  of  Elatea.— Battle  of  Chaeronea, 301 

CXI. — Fall  of  Grecian    Independence. — Assassination  of   Philip. — His 

Character, 304 

CXII. — Accession  of  Alexander, 308 

CXIII. — Invasion  of  Asia  by  Alexander. — Victory  at  the  Granicus,    .        .  311 

CXIV. — The  Gordian  Knot. — Preparations  of  Darius, 315 

CXV.— Battle  of  the  Issus.— Tyre  and  Sidon.— Siege  of  Tyre,    .        .        .319 

CXVL— Alexander  in  Egypt.— Defeat  of  Darius, 324 

CXVII. — Babylon  and  Persepolis. — Death  of  Darius. — Alexander  in  Scythih,  32? 

CXVIII. — Domestic  Affairs  of  Athens. — Invasion  of  India  by  Alexander,     '.  332 

CXIX.— The  Illness  and  Death  of  Alexander.— His  Character,    ...  33^ 
CXX. — Kingdom   of  Egypt,   Syria,   &c,   founded. — Recall  of  Exiles  to 

Athens. — Death  of  Demosthenes, 338 

CXXL— Death  of  Antipater  and  Phocion, 341 

CXXIL— Borne;  Fall  of  Greece, 343 

CXXIII.— Writers  of  the  Fourth  Period, 345 

CXXIV.— Historians,  Orators,  &c,  of  the  Fourth  Period,        .        .  34C 

CXXV.— Philosophers,  Sophists,  and  Artists  of  the  Fourth  Period,      .        .  352 

PERIOD     V. 

y.  *m  the  Conquest  of  Greece  by  the  Romans,  146  B.  C,  to  the  Present  Time. 

CXXVL— Changes  in  the  Political  Condition  of  Greece,          ....  359 

CXX VII.— Revolution  in  Greece.— Siege  of  Tripolitza.— Marco  B<  Bzarfb>        -  362 

UXXVIII.— Fall  of  Missolonghi.— Battle  of  Navarhio,         .        .        .  368 


HISTORY   OF   GREECE. 


INTRODUCTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Glance  at  the  Karhj  History  of  Mankind. 

1.  We  are  now  about  to  enter  upon  one  of  the  most  interesting 
and  instructive  portions  of  human  knowledge  —  the  History  of  Greece. 
This  carries  us  back  to  a  remote  period  of  time,  when  mankind  had 
but  recently  started  in  their  career ;  exhibits  the  spectacle  of  a  people 
beginning  in  barbarism,  and  advancing  through  every  stage  of  im- 
provement, till  they  reached  the  highest  degree  of  civilization  which 
was  known  to  antiquity. 

2.  The  Greeks  were  a  remarkable  people,  of  a  lively  temper,  and 
richly  endowed  with  mental  and  personal  advantages.  At  the  same 
lime  they  occupied  a  country  at  once  beautiful  to  the  eye,  and  admi- 
rably suited  to  the  development  of  genius  such   as  they  possessed 


CHAP.  I. — Question  1.  Is  the  history  of  Greece  interesting  and  instructive?  How 
uoes  it  carry  us  back  ?  What  does  it  exhibit?  2.  What  was  the  character  of  the  anciei.i 
Greeks''     What  of  their  cjuntry?     What  of  their  history  ?    3.   Where  are  the  CAMitriM 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

Their  history,  therefore,  is  the  history  of  a  favored  portion  of  tho 
human  race,  working  out  their  destiny  beneath  the  fairest  skies  ar.vi 
amid  the  loveliest  landscapes  to  be  found  on  the  earth. 

3.  Before  we  proceed  with  our  account,  it  may  be  well  to  take  a 
hasty  glance  at  the  state  of  the  world  at  the  period  when  our  story 
begins.  Certain  nations  in  Asia  and  Africa,  situated  near  the  east- 
ern extremity  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  appear  to  have  been  the 
first  to  establish  governments,  and  cultivate  the  arts,  literature 
and  science. 

4.  Although  the  early  history  of  nations  is  generally  a  bewil- 
dering maze  of  fiction  and  fact,  we  are  yet  able  to  determine  that 
more  than  2000  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  people  of 
Egypt  and  Assyria  had  advanced  so  far  in  improvement  as  to  have 
established  regular  governments,  built  towns  and  cities,  and  pos- 
sessed many  of  the  elements  of  civilization. 

5.  But  letters,  the  great  instrument  of  improvement,  the  key 
that  first  unlocked  the  human  mind,  were  invented  in  Egypt,  and 
here  science  had  its  birth  and  earliest  development.  Here,  also, 
was  the  cradle  of  a  multitude  of  arts,  which  afterwards  passed  intc 
Greece,  and  have  since  come  down  to  us  beautified  by  hands  that 
embellished  whatever  they  touched. 

G.  The  Chaldeans,  the  founders  of  Babylon  and  Assyria,  early 
directed  their  attention  to  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  their  progress 
in  the  study  of  astronomy  surpassed  all  the  nations  of  early  times. 

7.  The  Israelites  took  their  rise  in  Abraham,  a  Chaldean  shep- 
herd, about  1900  years  before  Christ.  His  descendants  dwelt  in 
Egypt  for  a  time,  but  they  were  led  out  by  Moses,  under  the  gui- 
dance of  God,  and  established  themselves  in  the  land  of  Canaan, 
now  called  Palestine. 

8.  The  Phoenicians,  who  occupied  the  coast  along  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Mediterranean  and  contiguous  to  Palestine,  nearly 
2000  years  before  the  Christian  era,  had  already  taken  the  lead  in 
commerce ;  and  at  a  later  period  their  merchants  are  spoken  of  as 
princes,  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  They  appear  to  have  possessed 
a  degree  of  maritime'  enterprise  beyond  all  other  ancient  people. 

9.  These  are  the  nations  which  appear  conspicuous  in  the  early 
pages  of  history.  Some  of  them  were  populous  and  far  advan- 
ced in  improvement,  even  while  Europe  yet  remained  a  savage 
wilderness.  It  is  from  these  that  Europe  derived  its  first  popula- 
tion, as  well  as  the  elements  of  that  knowledge  which  has  since 
been  so  largely  developed. 

that  first  established  governments,  &c?  4.  What  of  Egypt  and  Assyria?  5.  What 
of  letters?  Where  did  arts  and  science  begin?  6.  What  of  the  Chaldeans?  7.  The 
Israelites?    8.  The  Phoenicians? 

Questions  on  the  Map,  p.  11.— Name  some  of  the  principal  countries  which  border 
the  Mediterranean  Sea  on  the  north?  On  the  south?  On  the  east?  What  country 
lies  east  of  the  Red  Sea?     West? 

In  what  direction  were  the  following  countries  and  places  from  Greece:— Armenia? 
Bcythia?  Great  Britain?  Mauritania?  Persia?  Sicily?  Babylonia?  Rome?  Media? 
Eirypt?  Germany?  Ethiopia?  The  Euxine  or  Black  Sea?  Sardinia?  Garter? 
Oyrene?  Carthage?  Cyprus?  Jerusalem?  Bactnana?  Scandinavia?  Parthiat 
Memphis?    Sogtliana?    Carmania?    Gedrosia?     &c. 


5IC.7GR}   Or  yftf^„» 


ll 


12 


fllSTORY  OP  GREECR. 


MAP  OF  MODERN  GREECE. 

Klf  Let  the  teacher  put  such  questions  as  are  necessary  to  see  that  thi  pupi!  S» 
■or  ju^hly  acquainted  with  the  map. 


3REECE  — ITS  PRESENT  CONDITION 


13 


CHAPTER    Ii. 

Greece,  its  present  Condition. 

%.■,. 

ii-j 


Peasants  of  Modtrn  Greece. 

1 .  As  Greece  was  easily  reached  by  water  from  the  thickly  peo 
pled  countries  along-  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  first  portion  of  Europe  that  was  settled  ;  and 
here  European  history  begins 

2.  Greece  is  situated  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Mediterranean. 
It  consists  of  a  peninsula  projecting  southward  into  the  sea.  This  is 
about  300  miles  in  length,  but  modern  Greece  occupies  little  more 
than  two  thirds  of  this  territory. 

3.  The  present  extent  of  the  kingdom  of  Greece  is  about  15,000 
square  miles,  or  twice  as  great  as  that  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts 
Its  population  is  900,000  —  somewhat  more  than  double  that  of  the 
city  of  Philadelphia. 

4.  The  coasts  are  exceedingly  irregular,  and  present  a  multitude 
of  capes  and  bays,  which,  in  all  ages,  have  invited  the  people  to  mari- 
time enterprises. 

5.  On  the  north  side  is  the  Ionian  Sea,  in  which  are  several  islands 
now  forming  the  Ionian  Republic,  which  is  under  the  protection  of 
Great  Britain.     The  names  of  these  are  as  follows  :  — 


derr.  Names. 

Ancient  Names. 

Present  Capitals 

Corfu, 

Corcyra, 

Corfu. 

Paxo, 

Paxos, 

Gago. 

II.  —  1.  Why  was  Greece  the  first  settled  portion  of  Europe?  2.  How  is  modern  Greece 
situated?  Of  what  does  it  consist?  3.  Extent  of  modern  Greece?  4.  What  of  the 
-.oast?     5.   Where   is   the   Ionian   Republic?     Of  how  many  islands  does  >t  consist  1 


14  GREECE — ITS   PRESENT   CONDITION. 


Modern  Names. 

Ancient  Names. 

Present  Capitals. 

St.  Maura, 

Leucadia, 

Santa  Maura. 

Theaki, 

Ithaca, 

Vathi. 

Cephalonia, 

Cephalonia, 

Argostoli. 

Zante, 

Zacynthus, 

Zante. 

Cerigo, 

Cytheria, 

Moson. 

6.  East  of  Greece  is  the  iEgean  Sea,  called  the  Archipelago,  and 
studded  with  numerous  islands.  Forty  of  these  ar->  deemed  con- 
siderable.    The  following  table  exhibits  the  chief  of  them. 


Modern  Names. 

Ancient  Names. 

Present  Capitals. 

1'igropont, 

Euboea, 

Negroponc. 

Stalamine, 

LemnoH, 

Hydra, 

Hydrea, 

Hydra. 

Paros, 

Paros, 

Antiparoo 

Olearos, 

Naxia, 

Naxos, 

Naxos. 

Dclos, 

Delos, 

Dekvs. 

Santorin. 

Thera, 

Milo, 

Mclos, 

Argentera, 

Cimolas, 

Salamis, 

Salamis, 

Syra, 

Syros, 

Andros, 

Andros, 

Tine, 

Tenos. 

7.  To  the  south  of  Greece  is  Crete,  now  Candia,  the  largest 
island  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  conspicuous  in  history.  Along 
the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  are  Cyprus,  Rhodes,  Cos,  Samos,  Chios,  &c. 

Present  Capitals. 


Modern  Names. 

Ancient  Names. 

Tenedos, 

Tenedos, 

Mytilene, 

Lesbos, 

Chios, 

Scio, 

Samos, 

Samos, 

Patmos, 

Palmo, 

Rhodes, 

Rhodes, 

Candia, 

Crete, 

Cyprus, 

Cyprus, 

Candia, 
Cyprus. 

All  these,  except  Candia,  properly  belong  to  Asia,  but  their  history  is  intimately 
connected  with  that  of  Greece. 

8.  Greece  is  in  the  same  latitude  as  Virginia,  and  its  climate  is  simi- 
lar, though  somewhat  warmer.  It  is  exceedingly  mountainous,  and 
some  of  its  peaks  are  covered  with  perpetual  snow.  Yet  the  valleys 
and  slopes  are  fertile,  producing  wheat,  grapes,  figs,  oranges,  &c. 

9.  Asia  Minor  lies  to  the  east  of  Greece,  and  is  separated  from 
it  only  by  the  sea  of  the  Archipelago,  about  150  miles  across.  It 
was  settled  at  an  early  period,  and  numerous  Greek  colonies  were 
spread  over  different  parts  of  it. 

10.  Greece  has  ever  been  celebrated  for  the  picturesque  beauty  of 
its  landscapes,  and  its  sublime  mountains,  fancied  by  the  ancient  in- 
habitants to  be  the  abode  of  gods.  Its  valleys,  assigned  to  the  nymphs 
and  naiads  of  the  forest  and  the  wave ;  its  charming  bays,  its  crystal 

Name  them.  6.  Where  is  the  JEgean  Sea?  What  is  this  sea  also  called  ?  Name  some 
of  the  principal  islands,  with  their  ancient  names?  7.  Whatof  Candia?  Whatislands 
along  the  Asiatic  coast?  8.  Latitude  of  Greece?  Its  mountains?  Valleys,  Ac?  9. 
What  of  Asia  Minor?  Questions  on  the  Map,  p.  11. — In  which  direction  was  Ancient 
Greece  from  Asia  Minor?  Lubia?  Syria?  Gaul?  Persia?  Arabia?  Media? 
Spain?  Egypt?  Questions  on  the  Map,  p.  12. — What  country  in  Asia  lies  east 
of  Greece?  What  country  north?  In  which  direction  are  the  following  places 
from  Athens?  Constantinople?.  Candia?  Rhodes?  Italy?  Missolonghi?  Mt. 
Olympus?  Questions  on  the  Map  of  Ancient  Greece. — What  sea  between  Greece  and 
Asia  Minor?  What  sea  west  of  Greece?  Let  the  pupil  now  tell  the  place  of  each  of 
the  principal  islands,  and  its  direction  from  Athens.  Let  him  also  give  the  boundaries 
of  each  division  of  Ancient  Greece. 


GREECE  —ITS    PRESENT  CONDITION. 


15 


^  ^]^M^\^E 


Mount  Olympus. 

rivers,  and  above  all  its  heavenly  atmosphere,  robing  every  object  in 
unwonted  charms,  contributed  to  make  it  the  chosen  seat  of  poetry 
and  music  and  art  in  ancient  times,  and  still  render  it  an  object  of 
interest  to  the  most  indifferent  observer. 

LI.  Lord  Byron,  who  visited  the  country  in  1810,  before  the  late 
revolution,  seems  to  hi-ve  been  struck  with  the  mingled  aspect  of  love- 
liness and  desolation  which  the  country  presented.  He  compares  it 
to  a  human  form  from  which  life  had  just  departed  — 

"Before  decay's  effacing  fingers 
Have  swept  the  lines  where  beauty  lingers  ;" 

and  he  finally  exclaims, 

"  Sad  is  the  aspect  of  this  shore  — 
'T  is  Greece,  but  living  Greece  no  more  ! " 

12.  The  present  inhabitants  of  this  renowned  country,  are,  like 
their  famous  ancestors,  swarthy  in  complexion,  with  black  eyes  and 
black  hair.  Taken  together  they  are  an  uncommonly  beautiful  race. 
They  are  quick-minded  and  sagacious,  but  having  been  long  subjected 
to  the  despotic  sway  of  the  Turks,  they  had  imbibed  some  of  the  vices 
which  spring  from  a  state  of  servitude. 

13.  In  1821,  they  rose  in  resistance  to  their  masters,  and  after  a 
bloody  struggle  of  twelve  years,  they  achieved  their  independence. 
The  country  was  erected  into  a  kingdom,  and  Otho,  a  German  prince, 
Decame  its  chief  ruler.  Athens,  the  most  renowned  city  of  ancient 
Greece,  is  the  present  capital. 

14.  We  may  be  permitted  to  hope  that,  in  a  state  of  independence, 
the  Greeks  are  destined  to  recover  the  better  traits  which  their  ances- 
tors displayed. 

10.  Landscapes  of  Greece?  11.  What  does  Lord  Byron  say  of  Greece?  12.  Present 
people  of  Greece?    13.  What  of  the  recent  history  of  Greece? 


16 


GEOGRAPHY  OF  ANCIENT  GREECE 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  Geography  of  Ancient  Greece. 


View  near  Athens.  —  Temple  of  Theseus. 

1.  Ancient  Greece,  in  its  widest  extent,  embraced  not  only  the 
territory  of  modern  Greece,  but  the  northern  portion  of  the  Penin- 
sula, as  well  as  territory  still  further  north.  Its  utmost  length,  includ  • 
ing  Macedonia,  was  about  400  miles,  and  its  extent  about  40,000 
square  miles. 

2.  The  southern  part  of  the  Peninsula,  now  styled  the  Morea,  and 
anciently  Peloponnesus,  was  about  equal  in  extent  to  Massachusetts. 
[t  included  several  small  states,  as  Laconia,  of  which  Sparta  was  the 
capital ;  Argolis,  Achaia,  Arcadia,  Elis,  and  Messene. 

3.  The  middle  portion,  now  called  Lividia,  was  anciently  Hellas. 
Its  whole  extent  is  about  equal  to  that  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island.  Its  chief  divisions  were  the  states  of  Acarnania,  Etolia, 
Doris,  Locris,  Phocis,  Boeotia,  Attica,  and  Megaris.  The  chief  cities 
were  Athens  in  Attica,  and  Thebes  in  Boeotia. 

4.  The  northern  portion  of  Greece,  and  .ying  on  the  Adriatic,  now 

ITI.  —  1.  What  of  the  extent  of  ancient  Greece?  2.  What  is  the  southern  part  now 
called?  Ancient  name  of  the  Morea?  lis  extent?  What  states  did  PeJoponnesus 
include?  3.  What  is  the  middle  portion  of  Greece  called  ?  Its  ancient  name  ?  Extent? 
What  states  did  Hellas  include?  Chief  cities  of  Hellas?  4.  Where  is  Albania?  Its 
ancient  name ?    Where  is  Thessaly?    What  is  it  now  called?     What  cities  were  \» 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   ANCIENT   GRELLh.  17 

called  Albania,  was  formerly  named  Epirus  :  the  contiguous  territory 
of  Thessaly  is  still  called  Thessaly.  In  this  portion  was  the  city  ot 
Larissa.  Here  also  was  Mount  Olympus,  the  fancied  abode  of  the 
fabled  Jove,  and  the  vale  of  Tempe,  celebrated  in  song  as  one  of  the 
most  interesting  spots  to  be  found  in  the  world. 


Vale  of  Ttmjje. 

5.  The  islands,  lying  as  well  in  the  Ionian  as  the  j::Egean  Sea,  con 
stituted  a  fourth  division  of  what  was  properly  considered  Greece 
In  after  times,  Macedon,  lying  to  the  north,  was  regarded  as  a  part 
of  the  country. 

6.  To  the  east  of  Macedon  was  Thrace,  these  two  being  now 
called  Roumelia.  Thrace  was  not  properly  a  portion  of  Greece,  and 
was  occupied  by  a  distinct  nation  ;  yet  it  was  conquered  by  Philip  of 
Macedonia,  and  constituted,  a  portion  of  the  empire  of  his  son  Alex- 
ander. Many  individuals,  also,  who  settled  in  Greece  and  became 
connected  with  its  fame,  were  of  Thracian  birth. 

7.  Although  the  territory  of  Greece  was  small— -less  in  its  widest 
extent  than  the  state  of  New  York  —  it  is  supposed  to  have  had  a 
population  of  3,000,000,  in  its  most  flourishing  period  —  that  is,  in  the 
time  of  Pericles  —  about  450  B.  C.  Its  mountains,  its  rivers,  its 
valleys,  its  islands,  are  all  diminutive  in  comparison  with  others  that 
are  found  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  yet,  associated  with  the  name 
and  fame  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  they  are  touched  with  an  interest  that 
can  never  die. 

ancient  Epirus?  What  famous  mountain?  What  celebrated  valley  ?  5.  What  consti 
tuted  a  fourth  division  of  Greece?  Where  are  the  Ionian  islands?  The  Archipelago? 
What  of  Macedonia,  or  Macedon?  6.  Where  is  Roumelia?  Its  ancient  name?  What 
jfthem?  7.  Extent  of  ancient  Greece  ?  Papulation  in  the  time  of  Pericles?  What  of 
Its  mountains  and  rivers  ?  8  What  of  the  vestiges  of  Grecian  »rt?  Greek  literature? 
2 


18 


PLAN   OF  THE  HISTORY 


8.  Besides  these  natural  objects,  which  possess  a  claim  upon  the 
sympathies  of  every  intelligent  mind,  there  are  some  vestiges  ot' 
ancient  art,  which  still  bespeak  the  genius  of  their  tounders,  such  as 
the  ruins  of  the  temples  of  Theseus  and  Minerva  at  Athens,  of  Apollo 
in  the  Morea,  and  many  others  scattered  over  the  country.  Some  of 
the  sculptures  of  ancient  Greece  exist  in  the  collections  of  Italy,  and 
are  the  admiration  of  the  world.  Its  literature,  though  preserved  but 
in  part,  still  constitutes  a  rich  portion  of  the  treasures  accumulated  by 
hunnn  genius. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Plan  of  the  History. 


Olympic  Festival. 

1.  In  treating  of  the  history  ot  Greece,  we  shall  pursue  the  fol- 
lowing plan,  dividing  the  subject  into  five  distinct  periods : 

•2.   FIRST  PERIOD  —  From  the  earliest  times  till  the  Insti- 
tution of  the  Olympic  Festival,  884  B.  C.     This  win 
embrace   the  poetical   and  traditionary   hlstory    of 
Greece. 
Under  this  head  we  shall  give  sketches  of  the  Poets  who  flourished 
in  the  First  Period. 


IV.  — 2.  Extentof  the  first  period  of  Greek  history?    3.  Extentof  the  second  period1 
4.  Of  the  third  period?    5.  Of  the  fourth  period?    6.  Of  the  fifth  period? 


PLAN  OF  THE  HISTORY. -THE  TITANS.  19 

3.  SECOND  PERIOD  —  From  the  Institution  of  the  Olympic 

Festival,  884  B.  C,  till  the  Commencement  of  the  Per- 
sian War,  493  B.  C. 
As  this  period  embraces  the  time  when  the  character  of  the 
Greeks  had  become  fixed,  we  shall  here  treat  of  their  Personal 
Appearance,  Dress,  Occupation,  Manners,  and  Customs,  Military 
and  Naval  Equipments,  and  Architecture.  We  shall  then  give 
Sketches  of  the  Poets,  Sages  and  Philosophers  of  the  Second 
Period. 

4.  THIRD  PERIOD  —  From  the  Commencement  of  the  War 

with  Persia,  493  B.  C,  till  the  Capture  of  Athens  by 
the  Lacedemonians,  404  B.  C. 
To  this  we  shall  add  an  account  of  the  Dramatists,  Poets,  Histo- 
rians, Philosophers,  Sophists,  and  Artists  of  the  Third  Period. 

5.  FOURTH  PERIOD  — From  the  Capture  of  Athens  by  the 

Lacedemonians,  404   B.   C,   till    the    Subjugation   of 
Greece  by  the  Romans,  146  B.  C. 
To  this  will  be  added  a  history  of  the  Dramatists,  Poets,  Histo- 
rians, Philosophers,  Sophists,  and  Artists  of  the  Fourth  Period. 

6.  FIFTH  PERIOD  —  Containing  a  rapid  Sketch  of  the  His- 

tory of  Greece  from  its  Subjugation  by  the  Romans  to 
the  Present  Time. 


PERIOD    1. 

POETICAL  AND  TRADITIONARY  HISTORY  OF 
GREECE. 

from  the  earliest  times  till  the  institution  OF  THE  OLYMPIC 

FESTIVAL,  884  B.   C 


CHAPTER   V. 
The  Titans. 

1.  Grecian  history  commences  above  eighteen  hundred  years 
before  Christ.  The  thousand  years  preceding  875  B.  C,  when 
Lycurgus  gave  laws  to  Sparta,  are  considered  as  not  strictly  historical, 
the  events  which  distinguished  them  being  commemorated  chiefly  by 
tradition  and  poetry. 

2.  Yet,  however  mingled  with  fable,  the  history  of  this  long 
period  is  not  unworthy  of  notice,  seeing  that  the  Greeks  themselves 

V.  —  1.  Where  does  Grecian  history  commence?  What  period  is  considered  as  net 
strictly  historical?    Why  is  this  .housand  years  not  regarded  as  strictly  historical? 


20 


THE  TITANS. 


believed  io  it,  and  ir.ade  its  incidents*  and  heroes  the  theme  of  perpe  ual 
allusion  in  their  poetry,  and  even  a  part  of  their  religion. 


3.  According  to  tne  Greek  poets,  the  original  inhabitants  of  the 
country,  denominated  Pelasgians,  were  a  race  of  savages,  who  lived 
in  caves,  fed  on  nuts  and  roots,  disputed  the  dominion  of  the  forest 
with  the  lion  and  the  bear,  and  clothed  themselves  with  the  skins  of 
wild  beasts. 

4.  At  length  Uranus,  an  Egyptian  prince,  is  said  to  have  landed 
in  the  country,  and  became  the  father  c  f  a  family  of  giants,  named 
Titans,  who  rebelled  against  him  and  dethroned  him.  His  son, 
Saturn,  who  reigned  in  his  stead,  in  orde  to  prevent  a  similar  fate  to 
himself,  ordered  all  his  own  children  to  be  put  to  death  as  soon  as 
they  were  born. 

5.  But  one  named  Jupiter  was  concealed  by  the  mother,  and  reared 
in  the  island  of  Crete,  from  which,  in  time,  he  returned  and  deposed 
his  father.  The  Titans,  jealous  of  this  new  prince,  rebelled  against 
him,  but  were  vanquished  and  expelled  from  Greece. 

6.  Jupiter  divided  his  dominions  with  his  brothers,  Neptune  and 
Pluto.  The  countries  which  he  reserved  to  himself  he  governed  with 
great  wisdom,  holding  his  court  on  Olympus,  a  mountain  in  Thessaly, 
seven  thousand  feet  in  height,  and  the  loftiest  in  Greece. 

7.  It  is  quite  probable  that  all  these  fables  had  their  origin  in  real- 
ities :  but  any  truth  which  there  might  be  in  the  story  of  the  Titans 
and  their  princes,  was  completely  disguised  by  the  poets,  and  the 
popular  imagination.  Saturn,  Jupiter,  Neptune,  and  Pluto,  came  to 
be  regarded  not  as  mortals,  but  as  deities ;  and  the  top  of  Mount 
Olympus  was  supposed  to  be  the  heavenly  residence  of  the  gods,  by 
whom  the  affairs  of  mortals  were  governed. 

2.  Yet  why  should  the  poetical  portion  uf  Greek  history  be  worthy  of  notice  ?  3.  Who 
are  the  Pelasgians  ?  4.  What  of  Uranus?  Who  were  the  Titans?  What  of  Saturn  ? 
5.  What  of  Jupiter?  What  became  of  the  Titans?  6.  How  did  Jupiter  divide  his 
dominions?  Where  did  he  hold  his  court?  7.  Is  it  probable  that  these  fables  had  my 
foundation  in  truth?  How  did  realities  become  lost  in  fable?  8.  What  was  the  conse- 
quence of  the  adoption  of  these  fabulous  tales? 


IftACHUS.  —  FOINDING  OF  CITIES.  21 

y.  Thus  for  ages  after  the  dawn  of  philosophy,  these  deified  sons 
of  Saturn,  and  a  multitude  of  others  connected  with  them,  were  the 
objects  of  national  worship,  not  only  among  the  Greeks,  but  also 
amonjr  the  Romans. 


-V 


CHAPTER    VI. 

The  Hellenes*  Inachus,  Cecrops,  Cadmus,  and  Danaus. 


inachus  founding  the  city  of  At  got. 

1.  At  an  uncertain  but  very  early  date,  an  Asiatic  people,  named 
the  Hellenes,  immigrated  into  Greece,  in  some  cases  expelling  the 
Pelasgi,  and  in  others  intermingling  with  them,  so  that  in  process  of 
time  all  the  inhabitants  of  Greece  were  called  Hellenes.  They  were, 
however,  divided  into  several  races,  the  principal  of  which  were  named 
Dorians,  ^Eolians,  and  Ionians.  Each  of  these  spoke  a  dialect  differ- 
ing in  some  respects  from  those  made  use  of  by  the  others. 

2.  These  dialects  were  named  the  Doric,  iEolic,  and  Ionic,  in 
reference  to  the  tribes  which  used  them  ;  and  a  fourth,  which  was 
afterwards  formed  from  the  Ionic,  was  named  the  Attic,  from  its 
being  spoken  by  the  inhabitants  of  Attica. 

3.  In  the  year  1856  B.  C,  Inachus,  a  Phoenician  adventurer,  is 
said  to  have  arrived  in  Greece,  at  the  head  of  a  small  band  af  his 


VI.  —  I.  Who  were  the  Hellenes?  What  did  they  do?  What  whs  all  Greece  called  '. 
How  were  the  Hellenes  divided  ?  2.  What  four  dialects  were  spoken  in  Greece  ?  Why 
*vas  the  Attic  dialect  so  called  ?    3.  Who  was  Inachus  ?     When  did  he  settle  In  Greoc*  • 


«?o 


FOUNDING  OF  CITIES. 


countrymen.  Phoenicia,  a  small  state  on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, in  Asia  Minor,  was  at  this  time  one  of  a  few  countries,  including 
Egypt  and  Assyria,  in  which  some  degree  of  civilization  prevailed, 
while  all  the  rest  of  the  people  of  the  earth  remained  nearly  in  their 
original  barbarism,  like  the  Pelasgians  before  the  supposed  arrival  of 
Uranus. 

4.  Navigation  for  the  purposes  of  commerce,  and  the  art  of  writing, 
are  said  to  have  originated  with  the  Phoenicians.  On  their  arrival  in 
Greece,  Inachus  and  his  friends  founded  the  city  of  Argos,  at  the  head 
of  what  is  now  called  the  Gulf  of  Napoli,  in  the  Peloponnesus. 

5.  Three  hundred  years  after  this  event  (1556  B.C.)  a  colony, 
led  by  an  Egyptian  named  Cecrops,  arrived  in  Attica,  and  founded 
ihe  celebrated  city  of  Athens,  fortifying  a  high  rock  which  rose  pre- 
cipitously above  the  site  afterwards  occupied  by  the  town. 

6.  Egypt  is  situated  in  the  north-eastern  part  of  Africa.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  is  watered  by  the 
river  Nile,  the  periodical  overflowings  of  which,  by  supplying  the 
moisture  necessary  for  vegetation,  render  the  soil  very  fertile. 

7.  From  this  country,  which  had  at  a  very  early  period  made  con- 
siderable advances  in  some  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  Cecrops  imported 
much  valuable  knowledge  to  the  rude  inhabitants  of  Attica,  by  whom 
he  was  afterwards  acknowledged  as  king. 

8.  He  placed  his  rocky  fastness  under  the  protection  of  an  Egyptian 
goddess,  from  whose  Greek  name,  Athena,  (afterwards  changed  by  the 
Latins  into  Minerva,)  the  city  which  subsequently  rose  around  the 
rock  was  called  Athens. 

9.  About  the  year  1493  B.  C,  Cadmus,  a  Phoenician,  founded  the 
city  of  Thebes  in  Bceotia ;  and,  among  other  useful  things  which  he 
communicated  to  the  Greeks,  he  is  said  to  have  taught  them  alpha- 
betical writing,  although  it  is  certain  that  that  art  did  not  come  into 
common  use  in  Greece  until  many  centuries  after  this  period. 

10.  The  city  of  Corinth,  situated  on  the  narrow  isthmus  which 
connects  the  Peloponnesus  with  the  mainland  of  Greece,  was  founded 
in  the  year  1520  B.  C,  and  from  its  very  advantageous  position  on  the 
arm  of  the  sea  to  which  it  anciently  gave  a  name,  but  which  is  now 
known  under  the  appellation  of  the  Gulf  of  Lepanto,  it  very  soon 
became  a  place  of  considerable  commercial  importance. 

11.  Sparta  or  Lacedaemon,  the  celebrated  capital  of  Laconia  in  the 
Peloponnesus,  is  said  to  have  been  founded  about  1520  B.C.,  by  Lelex, 
an  Egyptian. 

12.  In  the  year  1485  B.C.,  an  Egyptian  named  Danaus,  accom- 

Where  was  Phoenicia  ?  What  was  it  at  this  time?  Its  condition  ?  4.  What  of  naviga- 
tion ?  The  art  of  writing  ?  What  city  did  Inachus  found  ?  Where  was  Argos  built? 
5.  Who  was  Cecrops  ?  When  did  he  arrive  in  Greece  ?  What  city  did  Cecrops  found  ? 
What  place  did  he  fortify?  6.  Where  is  Egypt?  How  is  it  bounded  on  the  north  J 
Whbh  way  was  Greece  from  Africa?  What  of  the  Nile?  7.  What  of  Egypt  as  to  the 
arts  and  sciences?  What  did  Cecrops  import  from  Egypt  to  Attica?  What  did  the 
people  make  of  Cecrops  ?  8.  Under  what  goddess  did  Cecrops  place  his  fortress  ?  How 
did  Athens  get  its  name?  9.  Who  wasCadmus?  When  did  he  arrive  in  Greece? 
What  city  did  he  found?  What  of  alphabetical  writing?  10.  When  was  Corinth 
founded?  Its  situation  ?  Present  name  of  the  Gulf  of  Co  "i  nth?  11.  What  of  Sparta? 
What  other  name  had  Sparta  ?  When  was  it  founded  ?  ly  whom  ?  Who  was  I<elex  I 
12    What  of  Danaus  ? 


PELOPS  AND  HERCULES. 


Stf 


panic,  oy  a  party  of  his  countrymen,  arrived  at  Argos,  the  inhabitants 
of  which  must  have  been,  at  that  period,  in  an  exceedingly  rude  state, 
since  it  is  said  that  he  excited  their  gratitude  so  much  by  teaching 
them  to  dig  wells,  when  the  streams  from  which  they  were  supplied 
witn  water  were  dried  up  with  the  heat,  that  they  elected  him  as 
their  king-. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Pelops  and  Hercules. 


The  infant  Hercules  strangling  the  serpents. 

1.  More  than  a  century  after  this  period,  (about  1350  B.  (/.,) 
Pelops,  the  son  of  a  King  of  Phrygia,  a  country  in  Asia  Minor,  settled 
in  that  part  of  Greece  which  was  afterwards  called  from  him  Pelo- 
ponnesus, or  the  island  of  Pelops,  where  he  married  the  daughter  of 
one  of  the  native  princes,  whom  he  afterwards  succceeded  on  the 
throne.  In  the  course  of  his  long  reign,  he  found  means  to  strengthen 
and  extend  his  influence  in  Greece,  by  forming  matrimonial  alliances 
between  various  branches  of  his  own  house  and  the  other  royal  fam- 
ilies of  the  Peloponnesus. 

2.  Agamemnon,  King  of  Mycenae,  in  Argolis,  who  was,  according 
to  the  poet  Homer,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Greeks  at  the  siege 
of  Troy,  and  Menelaus,  King  of  Sparta,  on  account  of  whose  wrongs 


VII.  —  1.  How  did  Pelops  extend  his  influence?         Who  were  descendants  of  PeloD* 


24  HERCULES. 

that  war  was  undertaken,  were  descended  from  this  Phrygian  adven 
turer, 

3.  Hercules,  a  Theban  prince,  was  another  of  the  descendants  of 
Pelops.  The  numerous  and  extraordinary  feats  of  strength  and  valor 
of  Hercules  excited  the  admiration  of  his  contemporaries.  Beinq 
afterwards  exaggerated  and  embellished  by  the  poets,  he  was  ai 
length  regarded  as  a  person  endowed  with  supernatural  powers  and 
even  to  be  worshipped  as  god. 

4.  According  to  the  poets,  Hercules  was  the  son  of  the  god  Jupiter, 
and  of  Alcmena,  daughter  of  Electryone,  King  of  Mycenae.  Before 
his  birth,  his  mother  married  Amphytryon,  King  of  Thebes,  by  whom 
the  infant  Hercubs  was  adopted  as  his  son.  While  yet  a  child  in  the 
cradle,  he  is  re\  uted  to  have  crushed  to  death  two  snakes  which  the 
goddess  Juno  had  sent  to  destroy  him. 

5.  After  he  grew  up,  he  performed  many  heroic  and  extraordinary 
actions,  commonly  called  his  "labors."  Among  these  was  his 
killing  a  dreadful  lion,  by  clasping  his  arms  round  its  neck,  and 
choking  it. 

6.  Another  of  the  fabled  labors  of  Hercules  was  his  destroying  the 
Hydra  of  Lerna.  This  was  a  monstrous  seven-headed  serpent,  which 
haunted  the  small  lake  of  Lerna,  now  Molini,  in  Argolis,  and  filled 
with  terror  the  inhabitants  of  the  whole  of  that  part  of  the  country. 
Hercules  dauntlessly  attacked  it,  and  struck  off  several  of  its  heads 
with  his  c  uu. 

7.  But  these  wonderful  heads  were  no  sooner  beaten  off  than  they 
grew  on  again,  so  that  it  seemed  an  impossibility  to  kill  a  monster 
whose  injuries  were  so  quickly  repaired.  At  last,  one  of  the  com- 
panions of  Hercules,  having,  at  the  hero's  request,  seared  with  a  hot 
iron  the  necks  of  the  hydra  as  fast  as  each  decapitation  was  accom- 
plished, it  was  found  that  the  heads  did  not  afterwards  grow  on,  and 
Hercules  was  thus  enabled  to  complete  the  destruction  of  the  reptile. 

8.  Another  achievement  of  Hercules,  to  which  allusion  is  often 
made  by  modern  writers,  was  the  cleansing  of  the  stables  of  Augeus, 
King  of  Elis,  in  which  three  hundred  cattle  had  been  kept  for  thirty 
years,  without  any  attempt  having  been  made,  during  all  that  time,  to 
remove  the  accumulating  filtn.  This  much-required  purification  the 
hero  accomplished  by  turning  into  the  stables  a  river  which  flowed  in 
the  vicinity. 

9.  Hercules  also  undertook  an  expedition  for  the  purpose  of  carry 
ing  off  the  cattle  of  Geryon,  King  of  Gades,  now  Cadiz,  in  Spain. 
Geryon  is  represented  as  having  been  a  monster  with  three  heads,  and 
a  proportionate  supply  of  arms  and  legs,  and  to  have  ruled  over  the 
greater  part  of  Spain  with  the  uf  Host  cruelty.  He  was  killed  by 
Hercules,  who  brought  away  his  ^   iuable  flocks  in  triumph. 

10.  In  this  expedition  he  is  said  to  have  formed  the  Straits  of  Gib 
raltar,  in  order  to  open  a  communication  between  the  Mediterranean 

3.  From  whom  was  Hercules  descended  ?  How  did  Hercules  come  to  be  regarded  as  a 
god  ?  4.  Who  were  the  parents  of  Hercules  ?  Who  adopted  Hercules  as  a  son  ?  What 
Fa  he  said  to  have  done  while  a  child?  5.  What  of  Hercules  and  the  lion  ?  6,  7.  What 
of  the  Hydra  of  Lerna?  How  did  Hercules  Anally  destroy  the  hydra  ?  8.  What  is  the 
story  of  Hercules  and  the  sables  of  Augeus  ?    9.  Of  the  story  of  Gei  yon?    10    What 


HERCULES.  —  ARGON AUTIC  EXPEDITION.- 1268  B.C.  25 

and  Atlantic,  by  rending  asunder  Spain  and  Africa,  which  had  until 
then  been  connected  tog-ether.  Two  mountains  (one  on  each  side  ot 
'.he  Straits)  raised  by  him  in  the  execution  of  this  task,  were  called 
:he  Pillars  of  Hercules,  and  the  appellation  is  not  unfrequently  made 
use  of  even  at  the  present  day. 

11.  After  many  adventures  in  foreign  countries,  he  returned  to  the 
Peloponnesus,  where  he  took  to  wife  a  lady  named  Dejanira.  For 
t  while  they  lived  happily  together,  but,  at  last,  believing  that  Hercules 
Had  become  less  attached  to  her  than  formerly,  his  consort  presented 
him  with  a  tunic  steeped  in  a  mixture  which  she  expected  to  operate 
as  a  charm  in  regaining  for  her  his  affections,  but  which  was  in  reality 
a  deadly  poison,  artfully  placed  in  her  hands  by  an  enemy. 

12.  As  soon  as  Hercules  had  put  on  this  fatal  garment,  he  was 
attacked  with  the  most  excruciating  pain,  and,  being  anxious  to  put  a 
period  as  speedily  as  possible  to  his  agonies,  he  stretched  himself  upon 
a  funeral  pile,  and,  causing  a  friend  to  set  it  on  fire,  was  burned  to 
ashes.  His  spirit  is  said  to  have  ascended  to  heaven  in  a  chariot 
drawn  by  four  horses,  which  Jupiter,  the  king  of  the  gods,  transmitted 
to  earth  for  the  purpose,  and  Juno,  the  celestial  queen,  gave  him  her 
daughter  Hebe  as  his  wife.  Dejanira,  on  learning  the  unfortunate 
result  of  her  attempt  to  recover  her  husband's  love,  put  an  end  to  her 
own  life  in  despair. 

13.  Such  are  the  wild  fictions  which  have  been  handed  down 
respecting  Hercules,  who  was  doubtless  nothing  more  than  a  Greek 
prince  of  great  valor  and  bodily  strength.  Having  been  expelled 
from  Mycenae  by  a  rival  claimant  of  the  throne  of  that  state,  he 
appears  to  have  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  wandering  over 
Greece  at  the  head  of  a  band  of  military  followers,  sometimes  attack- 
ing and  destroying  the  robber  chiefs  and  petty  tyrants  who  at  that 
rude  and  unsettled  period  abounded  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  on 
other  occasions  engaging  in  predatory  expeditions  himself. 

14.  But  he  was  no  doubt  brave  —  of  a  daring  spirit  and  powerful 
body.  Such  qualities,  in  a  rude  age,  are  always  regarded  with  admi- 
ration, and  deeds  of  courage  and  strength  win  more  applause  than  the 
highest  mental  or  moral  attributes.  For  these  reasons,  the  bully 
Hercules  was  sent  to  heaven  by  the  popular  fancy,  and  regarded  as 
a  divinity  even  by  philosophers  in  after  ages. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Argonautic  Expedition. 

1.    During  the  lifetime  of  Hercules,  (1268  B.  C.,)  Jac<n,  a  prince 
of  Thessaly,  made  a  voyage  to  Colchis,  a  country  on  the  eastern  side 

of  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar?  The  pillars  of  Hercules?  11,  12.  What  of  the  story  of 
Hercules  and  Dejanira  ?  How  did  Hercules  die  ?  How  was  his  spirit  carried  to  heaven  1 
What  became  of  Dejanira?  13.  What  was  doubtless  the  true  history  and  character  >yt 
Hercules?  14.  Why  did  Hercules,  being  a  riolent  anil  tijroulent  man,  become  su<*h  • 
^ro  in  the  fables  of  Greece? 

3 


26 


ARGONAUTIC  EXPEDITION. 


of  the  Euxine  or  Black  Sea.  His  enterprise  was  afterwards  greatly 
celebrated  under  the  name  of  the  Argonautic  expedition,  from  Argo. 
the  vessel  in  which  he  sailed.  This  ship  is  generally  referred  to  by 
the  ancients  as  the  first  that  ever  ventured  on  a  long  voyage. 

2.  It.  is  uncertain  what  was  the  real  object  of  the  Argonautic  expe- 
dition, although  it  seems  probable  that,  as  Colchis  was  rich  in  mines 
of  gold  and  silver,  Jason  and  his  companions,  among  whom  were 
Hercules  and  several  other  persons  of  distinction,  were  actuated  by  a 
desire  to  rob  the  country  of  some  of  its  valuable  metals. 

3.  The  poets,  however,  tell  ns  a  different  story.  Phryxus  and 
Helle,  the  son  and  daughter  of  Athamas,  King  of  Thebes,  being 
compelled  to  quit  their  native  country  in  order  to  avoid  the  cruelty  of 
their  stepmother,  mounted  on  the  back  of  a  winged  ram  with  a  fleece 
of  gold,  and  were  carried  by  this  wonderful  animal  through  the  air 
towards  Colchis,  a  kingdom  of  Asia  Minor,  where  an  uncle  of  theirs, 
named  iEtes,  was  king. 

4.  Unfortunately,  as  they  were  passing  over  the  strait  now  called 
the  Dardanelles,  which  connects  the  iEgean  Sea  with  the  Propontis, 
or  Sea  of  Marmora,  Helle  became  giddy,  and,  falling  into  the  water, 
was  drowned.  From  her,  says  the  fable,  the  strait  was  in  future 
named  the  Hellespont,  or  Sea  of  Helle. 


Phryxus  sacrificing  the  winged  ram  to  Jupiter. 

5.  When  Phryxus  arrived  in  Colchis,  he  sacrificed  liis  winged  ram 
to  Jupiter,  in  acknowledgment  of  divine  protection,  an  J  deposited  km 

VITI.  —  1.  Who  was  Jason  ?  When  did  Jason  make  his  voyage  to  Colchis  *  Where 
was  Colchis?  What  was  the  name  of  Jason's  vessel?  What  of  tho  Argonautic  expe- 
dition? 2.  What  was  probably  the  object  of  the  Argonautic  expedition  ?  3.  What  K. 
the  Htcry  told  by  the  poets  ?  Where  was  Colchis  ?  4.  How  did  tht.  Hellespont  «r«»  tia 
name?    5.  What  did  Phryxus  do  when  he  reached  Colchis?    Wl»  in  did  he  >narrv  i 


THESEUS.  — 1230.  27 

golden  fleece  in  the  same  deity's  temple.  He  then  married  the  daugh- 
ter of  iEtes,  but  was  afterwards  murdered  by  that  king,  who  wished 
to  obtain  possession  of  the  golden  fleece. 

6.  To  avenge  Phryxus'  death,  Jason,  who  was  his  relation,  under- 
took the  expedition  to  Colchis,  where,  after  performing  several  mar- 
vellous exploits,  he  not  only  obtained  the  golden  fleece,  but  persuaded 
_vledea,  another  daughter  of  King  iEtes,  to  become  his  wife,  and  to 
accompany  him  back  to  Greece. 

7.  One  of  the  persons  associated  with  Jason  in  the  Argonautic 
expedition  was  Theseus,  a  hero  almost  as  celebrated  as  Hercules 
himself.  His  father,  iEgeus,  was  King  of  Athens,  and  his  mother, 
iEthra,  was  the  daughter  of  Pittheus,  King  of  Trcezen,  in  Argolis. 

8.  An  insurrection,  which  broke  out  in  Attica,  obliged  iEgeus  to 
leave  vEthra  at  her  father's  court,  before  Theseus  was  born,  and  to 
repair  in  haste  to  Athens.  Before  his  departure,  he  conducted  his 
wife  to  a  lonely  spot  in  the  vicinity  of  Trcezen,  where  there  stood  a 
large  rock,  with  a  cavity  in  the  centre. 

9.  In  this  hollow  he  placed  a  pair  of  sandals  and  a  hunting-knife, 
and,  after  covering  them  over  with  a  piece  of  marble  of  great  weight, 
he  addressed  iEthra  in  the  following  words  :  —  "If  our  child  shall 
prove  a  boy,  let  his  removal  of  this  stone  be  one  day  the  proof  of  his 
strength  ;  when  he  can  do  this,  inform  him  of  his  parentage,  and  send 
him  with  the  tokens  it  covers  to  me  in  Athens." 

10.  When  Theseus  had  arrived  at  manhood,  his  mother,  remember- 
ing the  words  of  iEgeus,  took  him  to  the  rock  where  the  tokens  were 
hidden,  and  desired  him  to  try  to  lift  off  the  mass  of  marble  which  his 
father  had  placed  above  them.  Being  a  youth  of  uncommon  strength, 
he  accomplished  this  with  great  ease,  upon  which  ^Ethra  communi- 
cated to  him  the  rank  of  his  father,  and,  giving  him  the  sandals  and 

he  hunting-knife,  charged  him  to  bear  them  to  King  iEgeus  at 
Athens. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Theseus,  continued. 

1.  Trcezen,  where  the  young  Prince  of  Athens  was  nurtured,  lay 
on  the  western  shore  of  the  gulf  which  separates  the  Peloponnesus 
from  Attica.  As  the  journey  to  Athens  by  land  was  both  circuitous 
and  dangerous,  Theseus  was  advised  to  cross  to  Attica  by  water 
But  his  lofty  spirit  could  not  brook  the  idea  of  shrinking  from  danger, 
and  he  resolved  to  proceed  to  his  destination  overland. 

How  was  he  slain?  6.  How  did  Jason  avenge  the  death  of  Phryxus?  Whom  iid  he 
marry?  7.  What  of  Theseus?  8,  9.  What  directions  did  jEgeus,  father  of  Theseus, 
give  in  respect  to  his  son?  10.  What  did  the  mother  of  1  neseus  do,  when  he  reached 
manhood?  Did  Theseus  perform  the  task  assigned  him?  (Vhat  then  dii  his  mother 
io? 
IX.  —  1.  Where  was  Trcezen?    What  way  from  Trcezen  to  Athens  did  Theseus  choose 


^8  THESEUS.  — 1230. 

2.  Hercules  had  oefore  this  time  destroyed  many  of  the  robber 
chiefs  who  infested  Greece,  but,  notwithstanding  all  his  exertions, 
there  were  numbers  still  remaining  ;  and  as  Theseus  proceeded  along 
the  coasts  of  the  Saronic  Gulf,  he  encountered  and  discomfited  not  a 
few  of  these  marauding  leaders. 

3.  Among  others  he  is  said  to  have  destroyed  a  cruel  chieftain, 
named"  Procrustes,  who  had  a  bed  on  which  he  stretched  his  captives, 
shortening  or  lengthening  their  bodies  to  correspond  with  the  size  of 
the  bed,  by  either  barbarously  cutting  off  a  portion  of  their  limbs,  or 
stretching  them  out  by  the  rack,  as  the  case  might  be. 

4.  After  many  toils  and  perils,  Theseus  arrived  safe  in  Athens  ; 
and  ^Egeus,  recognizing  him  by  the  tokens  he  brought,  presented  him 
to  the  people  as  the  heir  to  the  throne. 

5.  The  fame  of  his  warlike  exploits  rendered  Theseus  a  favorite 
with  the  Athenians,  and  soon  after  his  arrival  among  them  he  took  a 
step  which  greatly  added  to  his  popularity.  In  consequence  of  then- 
want  of  success  in  a  war  with  Minos,  a  celebrated  King  of  Crete,  the 
Athenians  had  been  obliged  to  send  to  that  sovereign  an  annual  tribute 
of  seven  young  men  and  as  many  young  girls 


Tkesetiz  and  the  Greek  youths  before  Minos. 

6.  These  victims,  it  is  probable,  were,  on  their  arrival  in  Crete, 
condemned  to  slavery ;  but  the  popular  belief  of  those  ignorant  and 
superstitious  times  was,  that  they  were  thrown  into  a  labyrinth  con- 
structed by  an  ingenious  person  named  Daedalus,  where  they  were 

„o  pursue?  2.  What  had  Hercules  done  ?  What  did  Theseus  do ?  3  What  of  Pro- 
crustes? What  of  his  bed  ?  4.  Where  did  Theseus  at  length  arrive?  What  of  iEgeus  ? 
5.  What  rendered  Theseus  a  favorite?  To  whom  were  the  Athenians  obliged  to  pay 
tribute?    6.   What  was  the  supposed  fate  of  the  victims  sent  to  Crete  r     describe  the 


THESEUS.— 1234.  29 

devoured  alive  by  a  monster  called  a  Minotaur,  one  half  of  whose  body 
resembled  a  man,  and  the  other  a  bull. 

7.  When  the  time  came  round  for  selecting  by  lot  the  annual  vic- 
tims, Theseus,  observing  the  horror  of  those  on  whom  the  lot  fell,  and 
the  deep  sympathy  which  was  universally  felt  for  their  unhappy  fate, 
resolved  to  make  a  bold  effort  to  obtain  the  abrogation  of  the  cruel 
tribute.  For  that  purpose  he  voluntarily  enrolled  himself  as  one  of 
the  victims,  and  was  sent  to  Crete  along  with  the  others. 

8.  Here  Ariadne,  the  beautiful  daughter  of  the  king,  fell  in  love 
with  him,  and  she  supplied  him  with  a  thread,  which  he  took  in  his 
hand  when  he  was  thrown  into  the  labyrinth.  He  engaged  in  mortal 
combat  with  the  monster,  slew  him,  and,  by  following  the  thread, 
found  his  way  out  of  the  cave. 

9.  On  further  acquaintance,  Minos,  who  had  heard  the  famous 
deeds  of  Theseus,  conceived  so  high  an  opinion  of  him,  that  he  gave 
him  Ariadne  in  marriage,  and  relinquished  his  claim  to  the  humiliating 
tribute  which  he  had  hitherto  exacted  from  the  Athenians.  Theseus 
then  returned  to  Athens,  where  he  was  received  with  every  demon- 
stration of  public  respect. 

10.  Annual  sacrifices  and  festivals  were  instituted  in  commemora- 
tion of  his  patriotic  conduct,  and  the  vessel  in  which  he  had  made  his 
voyage  to  Crete  was  carefully  preserved  for  many  centuries,  being 
from  time  to  time  repaired,  until  at  last  it  became  a  question,  which 
was  gravely  discussed  by  the  learned,  whether  it  was  or  was  not  to  be 
still  regarded  as  the  vessel  of  Theseus,  after  its  various  parts  had  been 
so  often  renewed. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Theseus,  continued. 

1.  Theseus  succeeded  his  father  on  the  Athenian  throne,  (1231 
B.  C.,)  and  by  his  wise  regulations  greatly  consolidated  the  strength 
and  increased  the  prosperity  of  his  kingdom.  Cecrops,  the  founder 
of  Athens,  had  divided  Attica  into  twelve  districts,  each  of  which 
possessed  its  own  magistracy  and  judicial  tribunals. 

2.  As  the  country  advanced  in  wealth  and  population,  these  dis- 
tricts became  less  closely  connected  with  each  other,  and  at  the  period 
of  the  accession  of  Theseus,  they  could  hardly  be  regarded  in  any 
other  light  than  as  so  many  little  independent  communities,  whose 
perpetual  disputes  kept  the  whole  district  in  broils  and  confusion. 

3.  But  Theseus  had  influence  enough  with  all  parties  to  obtain 
their  consent  to  the  abolition  of  the  separate  jurisdiction,  and  to  the 
fixing  of  all  civil  and  judicial  authority  in  the  capital.      He  at  the 

Minotaur.  7  What  did  Theseus  resolve  to  do?  What  did  he  do?  8.  Who  was  Ari- 
adne? What  did  she  give  Theseus?  What  did  he  then  do?  9.  How  did  Minos  treat 
Theseus  ?    What  of  the  tribute  ?     10.  What  was  done  at  Athens  in  honor  of  Theseus  ? 

X.  —  1.  What  of  Theseus  when  he  became  king?     When  did  this  take  place?     2. 
What  of  the  twelve  districts  of  Attica?    3.  What  change  did  Theseus  effect?    4.  Iulo 
3* 


30  THESEUS.  — 1234. 

same  time  voluntarily  resigned  into  their  hands  a  portion  of  his  own 
power. 

4.  Having  divided  the  people  into  three  classes,  the  nobles,  the 
artisans,  and  the  cultivators  of  the  soil,  he  entrusted  the  first  of  these 
with  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  and  the  dispensation  of  jus- 
tice, while  he  conferred  upon  every  freeman  or  citizen,  without  dis- 
tinction of  class,  a  vote  in  the  legislative  assemblies.  The  command 
of  the  army,  and  the  presidency  of  the  state,  he  retained  in  his  own 
person. 

5.  To  strengthen  the  political  union  of  the  various  districts  of  his 
kingdom  by  the  tie  of  a  common  religion,  he  instituted  a  solemn  fes- 
tival, to  be  celebrated  annually  at  Athens  by  all  the  inhabitants  of 
Attica,  in  honor  of  Minerva,  the  tutelary  deity  of  the  city.  This  fes- 
tival he  denominated  Panathenaea,  or  the  feast  of  all  the  Athenians  ; 
the  name  by  which  the  whole  of  the  people  of  Attica  were  thence- 
forth called. 

6.  The  wise  and  liberal  policy  of  Theseus  caused  Attica  to  advance 
considerably  beyond  the  other  states  of  Greece  in  prosperity  and  civil- 
ization ;  and  the  ancient  historian,  Thucydides,  informs  us  that  the 
Athenians  were  the  first  of  the  Greeks  who  laid  aside  the  military 
dress  and  arms,  which  till  now  had  been  constantly  worn. 

7.  The  example  of  Athens  was  not  lost  on  the  other  Grecian  com- 
munities, all  of  which  gradually  adopted,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent, 
those  political  institutions  which  had  conferred  so  many  advantages 
upon  Attica. 


CHAPTER   XL 

Theseus,  continued. 

1.  Notwithstanding  the  judicious  and  exemplary  conduct  of 
Theseus  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  he  appears  to  have  afterwards 
allowed  his  restless  and  adventurous  disposition  to  hurry  him  into 
many  extravagances,  and  even  crimes,  by  which  he  forfeited  the 
respect  of  his  people,  and  brought  disgrace  and  suffering  on  his  latter 
years. 

2.  If  we  may  believe  the  traditionary  accounts,  he  accompanied 
Hercules  in  some  of  his  celebrated  expeditions,  and,  assisted  by 
Pirithoiis,  a  King  of  Thessaly,  engaged  in  many  martial  and  pred- 
atory adventures,  conformably  rather  with  the  very  imperfect  mor- 
ality and  rude  manners  of  the  age  than  with  his  own  previous  char- 
acter. 

3.  There  reigned  in  Lacedaemon,  at  this  period,  a  king  named 
Tyndarus,  who  had  a  beautiful  daughter  called  Helen,  and,  accord- 


What  three  classes  did  he  divide  the  people?  What  power  did  he  retain  ?  5  What  fes- 
tival did  he  institute?  What  was  it  called  ?  6.  What  of  Attica  under  Theseus  i  7.  VVha« 
of  the  example  of  Athens? 

Xi.  —  1.  What  of  Theseus'  subsequent  conduct?    2.  What  adventures  was  he  said  to 
be  engaged  in?      3.  Who  was  Tyilarus)     What  design  did  T'wseus  and   Pirithofls 


THESEUS  -1234. 


31 


ing  to  the  ancient  historians,  Theseus  and  his  friend  Pirithous  formed 
the  base  design  of  stealing  away  this  young  girl,  and  a  princess  ot 
Epirus  named  Proserpine.  They  succeeded  in  carrying  off  Helen  ; 
but,  in  their  attempt  to  obtain  Prosperine,  they  fell  into  the  hands  of 
her  father,  by  whom  Pirithous  was  put  to  death,  and  Theseus  throwr 
into  prison. 


T/itseus  cud  Pirithous  carrying  off  Helen 

4.  Meanwhile,  Castor  and  Pollux,  the  brothers  of  Helen,  who  were 
afterwards  deified,  and  whose  names  have  been  bestowed  upon  one  of 
the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  rescued  their  sister  from  the  men  to  whom 
Theseus  had  given  her  in  charge,  and  ravaged  Attica  in  revenge  for 
the  injury  they  had  received  from  its  king. 

5.  Theseus  was  afterwards  released  from  imprisonment  by  the 
assistance  of  Hercules,  and  returned  home ;  but  the  Athenians  had 
become  so  offended  with  his  conduct,  and  were  so  angry  at  his  having 
exposed  them  to  ill-treatment  from  the  Lacedaemonians  by  his  wicked 
attempt  upon  Helen,  that  they  refused  to  receive  him  again  as  their 
sovereign.  He  therefore  withdrew  into  exile,  and  soon  after  died  in 
the  island  of  Scyros. 

6.  The  Athenian  people,  however,  never  forgot  the  benefits  he  had, 
in  his  wiser  days,  conferred  upon  the  state,  and  many  centuries  after 
his  death,  his  bones,  or  some  which  were  supposed  to  be  his,  were  con- 
veyed to  Athens  with  great  pomp,  and  a  splendid  temple  was  erected 
above  them  to  his  memory.  The  ruins  of  this  splendid  temple  still 
MUSt. 

7.  The  Lacedaemonian  princess,  who  was  stolen  away  by  Theseus, 

form?  What  befel!  them?  4.  What  of  Castor  and  Pollux  ?  5.  Who  released  The?eu- 
from  prison  ?  Where  did  he  die?  6.  What  happened  many  years  after?  7.  What  <A 
Helen  ?    Her  father  ?    8.  Whom  did  Helen  choose  for  her  husband  ? 


32  THE  TROJAN  WAR.— 1194. 

afterwards  became  the  occasion  of  a  celebrated  war.  The  fame  of 
her  great  beauty  having  spread  far  and  wide,  many  of  the  princes  of 
Greece  asked  her  from  her  father,  Tyndarus,  in  marriage;  but  he, 
being  fearful  of  incurring  the  enmity  of  the  rejected  suitors,  declined 
showing  a  preference  for  any  of  them 

8.  Assembling  them  all,  he  bound  them  by  an  oath  to  acquiesce  in 
the  selection  which  Helen  herself  should  make,  and  to  protect  hei 
against  any  attempts  which  might  afterwards  be  made  to  carry  her  off 
from  the  husband  of  her  choice.  Helen  gave  the  preference  to  Mene- 
laus,  a  grandson  of  Pelops,  and  this  successful  suitor,  on  the  death  ol 
Tyndarus,  was  raised  to  the  Spartan  throne. 


CHAPTER    XII. 
The  Trojan  War. 


1.  At  this  period,  in  the  north-western  part  of  Asia  Minor,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Hellespont  and  the  .ZEgean  seas,  there  existed  a  king- 
dom, the  capital  of  which  was  a  large  and  well-fortified  city,  named 
Troy,  or  Ilium.  Priam,  the  King  of  Troy,  had  a  son  whose  name 
was  Paris;  and  this  young  chief,  in  the  course  of  a  visit  to  Greece, 
resided  for  a  time  in  Sparta  at  the  court  of  Menelaus,  who  gave  the 
Asiatic  stranger  a  very  friendly  reception. 

2.  Charmed  with  Helen's  beauty,  Paris  employed  the  opportunity 
afforded  by  a  temporary  absence  of  her  husband,  to  gain  her  affections, 
and  persuade  her  to  elope  with  him  to  Troy. 

3.  It  was  not,  according  to  the  old  poets,  to  his  personal  attractions, 
great  as  they  were,  that  Paris  owed  his  success  in  winning  the  affec- 
tions of  Helen,  but,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  age,  they  imputeo 
it  to  the  influence  of  Yenus,  the  goddess  of  love,  whose  favor  he  had 
won  by  assigning  to  her  the  palm  of  beauty,  on  an  occasion  when  it 
was  contested  between  her  and  two  other  female  deities. 

4.  When  Menelaus  returned  home,  he  was  of  course  indignant  at 
finding  his  hospitality  so  shamefully  abused,  and,  after  having  in  vain 
endeavored,  both  by  remonstrances  and  threats,  to  induce  the  Trojans 
to  send  him  back  his  queen,  he  applied  to  the  princes  who  had  for- 
merly been  Helen's  lovers,  and  called  upon  them  to  aid  him,  accord- 
ing to  their  oaths,  in  recovering  her  from  her  seducer. 

5.  They  obeyed  the  summons ;  and  all  Greece  being  angry  at  the 
insult  offered  Menelaus,  a  general  muster  of  the  forces  of  the  various 
states  took  place  at  Aulis,  a  seaport  town  of  Bneotia,  preparatory  to 
their  crossing  the  ^Egean  to  the  Trojan  shore.  This  is  supposed  to 
have  happened  about  the  year  1194  B.  C. 

6.  Of  the  chiefs  assembled  on  this  occasion,  the  most  celebrated 
were,  Agamemnon,  King  of  Mycenae;  Menelaus,  King  of  Sparta; 

XII.  —  Of  what  was  Troy  the  capital?  Who  was  the  King  of  Troy?  What  of 
Par'i3?  What  did  he  do?  3.  To  what  was  he  said  to  owe  his  success  with  Helen? 
4.  What  did  Menelaus  do  on  his  return  ?    5.  Where  did  the  forces  meet  ?    In  wha'  year 


THE  TKOJAxN   WAR. 


X\ 


Ulysses,  King-  of  Ithaca  ;  Nestor,  King  of*  Pylos  ,  Achilles,  son  of 
the  King  of  Thessaly  ;  Ajax,  of  Salamis ;  Diomedes,  of  ^Etolia;  and 
fdomeneus,  of  Crete.  Agamemnon,  the  brother  of  the  injured  Mene- 
laus,  was  elected  commander-in-chief  of  the  confederated  Greeks. 

7.  According  to  some  ancient  authors,  this  general  sacrificed  his 
daughter  Iphigenia,  to  induce  the  gods  to  send  a  favoring  gale  to  the 
Grecian  fleet  when  it  was  detained  by  contrary  winds  in  the  port  of 
Aulis ;  but.  as  the  earliest  writers  respecting  the  Trojan  war  make  no 
mention  of  this  unnatural  act,  it  may  be  hoped  that  it  was  never  per- 
formed. 

8.  The  Grecian  armament  consisted  of  about  twelve  hundred 
vessels,  with  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  in  each,  and 
the  army  which  warred  against  Troy  is  supposed  to  have  amounted 
altogether  to  about  one  hundred  thousand  men.  The  Trojans, 
although  reinforced  by  auxiliary  bands  from  Assyria,  Thrace,  and 
Asia  Minor,  were  unable  to  withstand  the  Greeks  in  the  open  coun 
try,  and  they  therefore  soon  retired  within  the  walls  of  their  city. 


\ 


CHAPTER    XIIL 

The  Trojan  War,  continued. 


Ancient  nailed  city. 

1.    In  those  early  times  men  were  unskilled  in  the  art  of  reducing 
fortified  places,  and  the  Greeks  knew  of  no  speedier  way  of  taking 

£.  Who  were  the  most  celebrated  of  the  assembled  chiefs  ?  Who  was  Agamemnon  ? 
What  office  did  he  hold  1  7.  What  is  said  of  him  by  ancient  authors  ?  8.  "0*  what  did 
the  Grecian  armament  consist  ?     What  of  the  Trojans  ? 

3 


1*4  TliE  TROJAN   WAR  CLOSED.  — .184. 

Troy  than  blockading  it  till  the  inhabitants  should  be  sompeJed  bj 
famine  to  surrender.  But  here  a  new  difficulty  arose.  No  arrange- 
ments had  been  made  for  supplying  the  invaders  with  provisions 
during  a  lengthened  siege  ;  and  after  they  had  plundered  and  laid 
waste  the  surrounding  country,  they  began  to  be  in  as  great  danger 

01  starvation  as  the  besieged. 

2.  The  supplies  which  arrived  from  Greece  were  scanty  and  irreg- 
ular, and  it  became  necessary  to  detach  a  part  of  the  forces  to  cultivate 
the  plains  of  the  Chersonesus,  a  peninsula  of  Thrace,  in  order  to  raise 
crops  for  the  support  of  themselves  and  their  brethren  in  arms. 

3.  The  Grecian  army  being  thus  weakened,  the  Trojans  were 
encouraged  to  make  frequent  sallies,  in  which  they  were  led  generally 
by  the  valiant  Hector,  Priam's  eldest  and  noblest  son.  Many  skir- 
mishes took  place,  and  innumerable  deeds  of  individual  heroism  were 
performed,  which,  however,  led  to  no  important  result,  for  the  opposing 
armies  were  so  equally  matched,  that  neither  could  obtain  any  decisive 
advantage  over  the  other. 

4.  Our  knowledge  of  this  contest  is  chiefly  derived  from  Homer's 
Iliad,  in  which  everything  is  painted  with  the  poet's  power.    Accord 
ing  to  this,  the  occasion  displayed  a  singular  mixture  of  brutality  and 
heroism,  of  coarseness  and  simplicity. 

5.  The  gods  and  goddesses  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  affair,  and 
had  a  large  share  in  deciding  the  fate  of  the  parties.  The  heroes 
boasted  and  blustered  in  the  fashion  of  our  Indian  warriors  of  the  west, 
and  their  degree  of  refinement  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that 
Hector,  the  bravest  of  the  Trojans,  being  slain  by  Achilles,  the  bravest 
of  the  Greeks,  his  dead  body,  attached  to  the  chariot  of  Achilles,  was 
dragged  in  triumph  over  the  ground. 

6.  At  length,  after  a  siege  of  no  less  than  ten  vears.  in  the  course 
of  which  some  of  the  most  distinguished  leaders  on  both  sides  were 
slain,  Troy  was  taken,  its  inhabitants  slaughtered,  and  its  edifices 
burnt  to  the  ground,  1184  B.  C. 

7.  According  to  the  poets,  it  was  by  a  stratagem  that  this  famous 
city  was  at  last  overcome.  They  tell  us  that  the  Greeks  constructed 
a  wooden  horse  of  prodigious  size,  in  the  body  of  which  they  concealed 
a  number  ->f  armed  men,  and  then  retired  towards  the  sea-shore  to 
induce  the  enemy  to  believe  that  the  besiegers  had  given  up  the  enter 
prise,  and  were  about  to  return  home. 

8.  Dec3ived  by  this  manoeuvre,  the  Trojans  brought  the  gigantic 
horse  into  the  city,  and  the  men  who  had  been  concealed  within  it, 
stealing  out  in  the  night-time,  unbarred  the  gates  and  admitted  the 
Grecian  army  within  the  walls.  The  siege  of  Troy  forms  the  subject 
of  Homer's  sublime  poem,  the  Iliad,  in  which  the  real  events  of  the 
war  are  intermingled  with  many  fictitious  and  supernatural  incidents 

9.  The  Greek  princes  discovered  that  their  triumph  over  Troy  was 

XTTI.  —  1.  How  did  the  Greeks  proceed  in  the  siege  of  Troy  ?     What  difficulties  arose? 

2  What  ot  supplies?  What  was  it  necessary  to  do?  3.  What  did  the  Trojans  do? 
Who  was  Hector  ?  What  took  place  ?  Why  was  there  no  important  result  ?  4.  What 
of  Homer?  5.  The  gods  and  goddesses  ?  Hector  and  Achilles  ?  C.  How  long  dij  the 
siege  continue?  When  was  Troy  destroyed  ?  7.  What  do  the  poets  say  of  the  siege  ? 
«*  What  of  the  wooden  horse?    The  Iliad?    9.   What  of  the  Greek  princes?     Uljssesl 


THE  HERACLIML 


35 


dearly  paid  for  by  their  subsequent  sufferings,  and  the  disorganizatioc 
of  their  kingdoms  at  home.  Ulysses,  if  we  may  believe  the  poets, 
spent  ten  years  in  wanuering  over  seas  and  lands  before  arriving  iv 
hie  island  kingdom  of  Ithaca. 


Wooden  horse. 

10.  Others  of  the  leaders  died  or  were  shipwrecked  on  their  way 
Home,  and  several  of  those  who  succeeded  in  reaching  their  own 
dominions  found  their  thrones  occupied  by  usurpers,  and  were  com- 
pelled to  return  to  their  vessels,  and  seek  in  distant  lands  a  place  of 
rest  and  security  for  their  declining  years. 

11.  But  the  fate  of  Agamemnon,  the  renowned  general  of  the 
Greeks,  was  the  most  deplorable  of  all.  On  his  return  to  Argos,  he 
was  assassinated  by  his  wife  Clytemenestra,  who  had  formed  an  attach- 
ment, during  his  absence,  to  another  person.  Agamemnon's  son 
Orestes  was  driven  into  exile,  but  afterwards  returned  to  Argos,  and, 
putting  his  mother  and  her  accomplices  to  death  established  himself 
upon  the  throne. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

The  HeraclidcB. 

1  About  eighty  years  after  the  termination  of  the  Trojan  war,  an 
extensive  revolution  took  place  in  the  affairs  of  Greece,  in  consequence 
of  the  subjugation  of  nearly  the  whole  Peloponnesus  by  the  descp nd- 
ants  of  Hercules,  called  the  Heraclidae. 

Other  leaders?     11.   What  waa  the  fate  of  Agamemnon  ?    Who  was  C'.estes?    What 
uid  he  do  ? 
XIV.  — 1.   What  was  done  by  the  Heracl*'ffi?    2.  What  of  Hercules  1    His  children! 


36  CODRUS. -GREEK  COLONIES. 

2.  It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  that  hero,  who  was  a  mern 
ber  of  the  royal  family  of  Mycenae,  or  Argos,  had  been  driven  inti 
exile  by  some  more  successful  candidate  for  the  throne  of  thai  stale 
After  the  hero's  death,  his  children  sought  refuge  in  Doris,  the  king 
of  which  became  subsequently  so  much  attached  to  Hyllus,  the  eldest 
son  of  Hercules,  that  he  constituted  him  the  heir  of  his  throne. 

3.  Twice  the  Heraclidaean  princes  unsuccessfully  attempted  to 
establish  themselves  in  the  sovereignty  of  the  Peloponnesus,  which 
they  claimed  as  their  right ;  but,  on  the  third  trial,  they  accomplished 
their  object. 

4.  In  the  year  1104  B.C.,  three  brothers,  named  Temenus,  Cres- 
phontes,  and  Aristodemus,  said  to  have  been  the  great-grandsons  of 
Hyllus,  invaded  the  Peloponnesus  at  the  head  of  the  Dorians,  and 
conquered  the  greater  part  of  it,  with  the  exception  of  the  province  of 
Arcadia,  the  mountainous  character  of  which  enabled  its  inhabitants 
to  defend  it  with  success. 

5.  Temenus  obtained  the  kingdom  of  Argos,  Cresphontes  estab- 
lished himself  in  Messenia,  and  as  Aristodemus  had  died  during  the 
war,  his  twin  sons,  Eurysthenes  and  Procles,  shared  between  them 
the  throne  of  Sparta.  The  thrones  of  Corinth  and  Elis  were  occupied 
by  other  branches  of  the  Heraclidaean  family. 

6.  The  Dorian  troops  were  rewarded  with  the  lands  of  the  con- 
quered inhabitants,  who  were  driven  out  of  the  Peloponnesus,  or 
reduced  to  slavery.  Great  numbers  of  the  Peloponnesians,  who  were 
expatriated  by  the  Dorian  invaders,  passed  over  into  Asia  Minor 
where  they  founded  several  colonies  in  a  district  afterwards  called 
jffiolia,  from  the  name  of  the  people  by  whom  these  colonies  were 
established. 

7.  Others  took  refuge  in  Attica,  where  the  Athenians  received 
them  in  a  friendly  manner.  This,  it  would  appear,  gave  offence  to 
the  new  rulers  of  the  Peloponnesian  states,  and  war  was  commenced 
between  the  Dorians  and  the  Athenians. 

8.  In  the  year  1070  B.  C,  Attica  was  invaded  by  a  large  army  of 
the  Peloponnesians,  and  Athens  itself  seemed  menaced  with  destruc- 
tion. This  emergency  produced  a  display  of  patriotic  devotion  on 
the  part  of  Codrus,  the  Athenian  king,  which  has  rarely  been  paral- 
leled in  the  annals  of  the  world,  and  deserves  to  be  held  in  everlasting 
remembrance. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Codrus. —  Greek  Colonies. 

I.   At  Delphi,  in  Phocis,  there  was  a  temple  of  Apollo,  to  the 
nests  of  which  the  Greeks  were  wont  to  apply  for  information  rcgard- 

What  of  Hyllus?  3.  What  did  the  Heraclidaean  princes  do?  4.  What  was  done  in 
'104?  Why  was  not  Arcadia  conquered  ?  5.  What  of  the  division  of  the  Peloponnesus  .' 
6.  How  were  the  Dorian  troops  rewarded  ?  Who  founded  colonies  in  jEolia  ?  7.  Wha 
caused  a  new  war?    What  took  place  in  1070? 


'JOMIL'S.  -  GilEEK   COLONIES. 


37 


*ng  future  events,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  people  of  comparatively 
recent  times  were  accustomed  to  consult  astrologers,  soothsayers,  and 
other  artful  impostors,  on  similar  questions. 


Death  of  Codrus. 


2.  Now  Codrus  had  learned  that  the  Peloponnesians  had  received 
at  Delphi  a  prophetical  response  or  oracle,  to  the  effect  that  they 
should  be  victorious  in  the  war,  if  they  did  not  kill  the  Athenian  king-. 
Determined  to  save  his  country  at  the  expense  of  his  own  life,  Codrus 
disguised  himself  in  a  peasant's  dress,  and,  entering  the  Peloponnesian 
camp,  provoked  a  quarrel  with  a  soldier,  by  whom  he  was  killed. 

3.  It  was  not  long  until  the  dead  body  was  recognized  to  be  that 
of  the  Athenian  king,  .and  the  Peloponnesians,  remembering  the  con- 
dition on  which  the  oracle  had  promised  them  success,  were  afraid  to 
continue  the  contest  any  longer,  and  hastily  retreated  into  their  own 
territories. 

4.  The  Athenians  were  rilled  with  admiration  when  they  heard 
of  the  noble  conduct  of  their  monarch,  and,  in  the  height  of  their 
gratitude,  they  declared  that  none  but  Jupiter  was  worthy  of  being 
their  king  after  such  a  prince  as  Codrus. 

5.  It  is  supposed  that  they  were  partly  induced  to  make  his 
declaration  by  finding  the  sons  of  Codrus  evince  an  inclination  to 
involve  the  country  in  a  civil  war,  regarding  the  succession  to  the. 
throne. 

6.  The  Athenians,  therefore,  abolished  royalty  altogether,  and 
appointed  INIedon,  Codrus'  eldest  son,  under  the  title  of  Archon,  as 

XV.  —  1.  Where  was  there  a  temple  of  Apollo  ?  2.  What  did  Codrus  learn  1  What 
did  he  do?  3.  How  did  his  death  affect  the  Peloponnesians  ?  The  Athenians?  6.  Why 
iid  they  abolish  royalty  ?    W  10  was  the  first  Archon  ?    7.  Who  was  sent  to  Asia  Minor  ? 


*J8  THE  OLYMPIC  FESTIVAL. 

chief  magistrate  of  the  republic  for  life  ;  the  omce  to  be  hereditary  in 
his  family  as  long  as  its  duties  should  be  performed  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  assembly  of  the  people. 

7.  As  Attica  was  overcrowded  with  the  Peloponnesian  refugees, 
these,  together  with  a  large  body  of  Athenians,  were  sent  into  Asia 
Minor,  under  the  charge  of  Androclus  and  Neleus,  the  younger  sons 
of  Codrus,  to  plant  colonies  to  the  south  of  those  already  formed  in 
JEolia. 

8.  The  settlers  founded  twelve  cities,  some  of  which  afterwards 
rose  to  great  wealth  and  splendor.  Ionia  was  the  name  bestowed 
upon  the  district,  in  reference  to  the  Ionic  stock  from  which  the  Athe- 
nians drew  their  descent. 

9.  Several  Dorian  colonies  in  Caria,  a  province  still  further  south 
than  Ionia,  completed  the  range  of  Grecian  settlements  along  the 
western  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  Cyprus,  Rhodes,  the  coast  of  Thrace, 
and  the  islands  of  the  ^Egean  Sea,  together  with  a  considerable  portion 
of  Italy  and  Sicily,  and  even  of  France  and  Spain,  were  also  colonized 
by  bands  of  adventurers,  who,  at  various  periods,  emigrated  from 
Greece. 

10.  Thus,  in  process  of  time,  the  Grecian  race,  language,  religioi , 
institutions,  and  manners,  instead  of  being  confined  to  the  compara 
lively  small  country  constituting  Greece  proper,  were  diffused  over  a 
very  extensive  region,  comprising  the  fairest  portions  of  Europe  and 
western  Asia. . 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

Institution  of  the  Olympic  Festival. 

1.  While  this  work  of  colonization  was  going  forward,  the  parcu 
states  of  Greece  were  torn  with  internal  dissensions,  and  were  perpet- 
ually harassing  each  other  in  wars,  of  which  the  objects  and  incidents 
are  now  equally  uncertain. 

2.  Almost  all  that  is  known  of  the  history  of  the  two  centuries 
immediately  following  the  death  of  Codrus,  is,  that  they  were  charac- 
terized by  great  turbulence  and  confusion,  and  that,  during  this  period, 
many  of  the  Grecian  states  and  colonies  followed  the  example  of 
Athens,  by  abolishing  monarchy. 

3.  Others  did  not,  till  a  later  period,  become  republican,  and  Sparta 
long  retained  the  singular  form  of  regal  government  established  there 
at  the  accession  of  the  twin  brothers,  Eurysthenes  and  Procles,  the 
descendants  of  whom  continued  for  several  centuries  to  reign  jointly 
n  Lacedaemon,  though,  practically  speaking,  no  state  of  Greece  was 
iiore  thoroughly  republican  in  many  important  respects. 


i.   What  districts  were  formed ?    Where  was  Ionia  ?    9.   What  of  Caria?    What  other 
settlements  were  made  ?     10.   What  of  the  Grecian  race? 

XVI.  —  1.  What  was  the  state  of  Greece  while  the  colonies  were  being  formed? 
2.  What  of  the  history  of  Greece  for  two  centuries  after  the  death  of  Codrus  ?  3.  Wnat 
tl  the  .government  ^  Sparta  ?    What  of  the  actual  character  of  government,  in  Sparta, 


THE  OLYMPIC  FESTIVAL. 


H9 


4.  Greece  had  been  all  along  divided  into  a  number  of  independent 
states,  and  after  the  abolition  of  kingly  government,  several  of  these 
were  split  up  into  as  many  distinct  republics  as  the  state  contained  of 
towns.  These  divisions  of  the  country,  and  the  obstacles  which  the 
almost  incessant  wars  interposed  to  a  free  communication  between  the 
inhabitants  of  the  different  districts,  necessarily  prevented  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Greeks  in  knowledge  and  civilization. 


A  victor  in  the  Olympic  Games. 

5.  But,  fortunately,  a  king  of  Elis,  named  Iphitus,  at  length  devised 
an  institution  by  which  the  people  of  all  the  Grecian  states  were 
enabled,  notwithstanding  their  quarrels  and  wars  with  one  another,  to 
meet  periodically  on  friendly  terms,  and  communicate  to  each  other 
such  information  as  might  be  useful  for  the  improvement  and  welfare 
of  the  whole. 

6.  This  institution  was  the  Olympic  Festival.  From  a  very  remote 
period,  the  Greeks  had  been  accustomed  to  engage  in  contests  of 

at  this  time  ?  4.  How  had  Greece  been  divided?  What  was  the  effect  of  this  division 
of  Greece  into  separate  states?  5.  "What  did  Iphitus  do?  How  did  the  Olympic  game* 
sarve  to  unite  the  people  of  Greece  ?    6.  To  what  had  the  people  of  Greece  lor.     be-jn 


40 


THE  OLYMPIC  FESTIVAL. 


sire  lgth  and  agility  during  their  times  of  festivity,  and  also  at  th« 
tunerals  of  distinguished  personages. 


7.  Iphitus  conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  a  periodical  festival  in 
his  own  dominions,  for  the  celebration  of  these  ancient  games,  and 
also  of  religious  rites  in  honor  of  Jupiter  and  Hercules  ;  and  having 
obtained  the  authority  of  the  Delphian  oracle  for  carrying  his  design 
into  execution,  he  instituted  the  festival,  and  appointed  that  it  should 
oe  repeated  every  fourth  year  at  Olympia,  a  town  of  Elis 


Victors  crowned  with  ohve  wreaths. 

fcS.  To  this  festival  he  invited  all  the  people  of  Greece  ;  ana  thai 
none  might  be  prevented  from  attending  it  by  the  wars  in  which  any 
of  he  states  might  be  engaged,  the  Delphic  oracle  commanded  that  a 
general  armistice  should  take  place  for  some  time  before  and  after 
each  celebration. 


accustomed?  7.  What  festival  did  Iphitus  establish?  Wliaf  oracle  did  he  consult?  In 
whose  honor  were  the  games  instituted  ?  Where  was  Olympia  ?  8.  Were  all  the  peoplu 
of  Greece  invited  to  the  Olympic  festivals?    What  did  the  Delphic  oracle  command? 


OLYMPIC  GAMES. 


41 


*.).  The  date  of  the  establishment  of  the  Olympic  Games,  884  B.  C. 
ras  afterwards  assumed  by  the  Greeks  as  the  epoch  from  which  they 
reckoned  the  progress  of  time  ;  the  four  years  intervening  between 
each  recurrence  of  the  festival  being  styled  as  Olympiad. 

10.  Three  other  institutions  of  a  similar  nature  were  afterwards 
established;  namely,  the  Isthmian  Games,  celebrated  near  Corinth; 
the  Pythian,  at  Delphi  ;  and  the  Nemcan,  in  Argolis.  These  took 
place  on  the  various  years  which  intervened  between  the  successive 
festivals  at  Olympia ;  but  although  they  acquired  considerable  celebrity, 
none  of  them  rose  to  the  importance  and  splendor  of  that  of  Iphitus. 

11.  The  games  which  were  celebrated  at  the  festivals  consisted  of 
foot  and  chariot  races,  wrestling  and  boxing  matches,  and  other  con- 
tests requiring  strength  and  agility,  together  with  competitions  in 
poetry  and  music.  The  victors  were  crowned  with  an  olive  wreath  ; 
an  honor  which  it  was  esteemed  by  the  Greeks  one  of  the  highest 
obiects  of  ambition  to  attain. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Games,  continued. 


Wrestling. 


1.    In  wrestling,  the  competitors  were  nearly  or  quite  naked,  and 
they  seem  to  have  displayed  great  skill  and  agility.     Excited  by  the 

9.  What  was  the  date  of  the  founding  of  the  Olympic  Games?  What  did  this  date  be 
tome  ?  How  often  did  the  Olympic  Games  occur  ?  What  was  an  Olympiad  ?  10.  W  hai 
three  other  games  were  established?  11.  What  were  the  games  and  uastimea  at  *.h« 
festivals  ? 


42 


OLYMPIC  GAMES. 


presence  of  a  vast  assembly,  they  put  forth  amazing  efforts,  and 
though  bruised  and  maimed  in  the  struggle,  they  gave  no  evidence 
of  Buffering. 


Leaping 

2.  Leaping  was  performed  by  springing  over  a  bar.  No  one  was 
permitted  to  enter  into  this  sport,  at  the  Olympic  Games,  who  had  not 
practised  ten  months. 


Boxing. 
8.    Boxing  was  a  favorite  sport,  and  appears  to  have  beer:  prac- 


OLYMPIC  GAMES 


43 


otoJ  much  as  it  is  now  in  England.     No  unfair  advantage  was  allowed 
in  this  or  in  any  other  contest.     The  least  trick  was  severely  punished 


The  discus. 

4.  Throwing  the  discus  or  coit,  a  round  piece  of  stone,  iron  01 
brass,  called  forth  the  energies  of  the  most  powerful  men,  and  the 
feats  performed,  in  hurling  large  weights,  were  astonishing. 


Running. 

5.  Running  was  practised,  and  if  we  may  believe  the  accounts 
which  are  given  by  Greek  writers,  the  racers  must  have  surpassed  tho 
fleetest  of  modern  pedestrians. 

XVII.  — 1.  What  of  wrestling?    2.  Leaping?    3.  Boxing?    4.  Throwing  t'ae  discus ) 


n 


GRECIAN   MYTHOLOGY 


6.  Horse  racing  and  chariot  racing  were  conspicuous  among  the 
spor  s.  The  latter  was  particularly  imposing,  and  persons  of  the  first 
rank  engaged  in  it.  Such  was  the  applause  bestowed  that  it  was 
fanciid  that  Alexander,  the  son  of  Philip,  and  afterwards  the  celebrated 
conqueror,  might  desire  to  engagejn  the  contest ;  but  when  it  was 
prop  *sed,  the  haughty  youth  declined,  unless  kings  could  be  his  rivals. 


Chariot  racing. 

7.  The  first  poets  and  musicians  were  assembled  from  all  quartern, 
and  an  immense  crowd  of  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low,  gathered  tc 
witness  these  displays,  which  were  not  only  interesting  from  the  excite- 
ment they  produced,  but  from  the  sanction  that  the  popular  religion 
bestowed  upon  the  occasion.  It  would  appear,  that  at  the  present 
day,  there  is  no  public  festivity,  in  any  country,  which  engages  uo 
deeply  the  passions  of  mankind  as  the  names  of  ancient  Greece. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
Grecian  Mythology.  —  Classification.  —  Jupiter. 

1.  The  Greeks  divided  their  chief  deities  into  three  classes,  celes 
tial,  marine  and  infernal.  Besides  these,  there  was  a  great  variety 
of  beings,  deemed  either  wholly  or  partially  divine. 

2.  The  celestial  gods  were  Jupiter,  Apollo,  Mars,  Mercury,  Bac- 
chus and  Vulcan  ;  the  celestial  goddesses  were  Juno,  Minerva,  Venus 
with  Cupid,  Diana,  Ceres  and  Vesta. 

3.  Jupiter,  the  father  of  gods  and  men,  is  said  to  have  been  born 
in  Crete,  or  to  have  been  sent  there  in  infancy  for  concealment.  He 
was  the  son  of  Saturn,  the  god  of  time,  and  of  Cybele,  otherwise 
called  Rhea.  He  was  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  gods,  and  every- 
thing was  subservient  to  his  will  except  the  decrees  of  Fate. 

5.  Racing?    6.  Alexander?     7.  Musicians?     What  may  be  said,  in  general,  of  the  ex- 
citement of  the  Grecian  crimes. 

XVIII.  —  1.  Into  what  three  classes  did  the  Greeks  divide  their  chief  deities?  What 
other  divinities  were  there?  2.  Who  were  the  celestial  gods  ?  The  celestial  goddesses 7 
3.  Who  was  Ju  liter?    Whore  v»is  he  born?    His  parents?    What  of  him?    4    What 


JUP1  PER. 


45 


4.  His  father,  Saturn,  had  received  the  dominion  of  the  world  from 
his  brother,  Titan,  on  condition  of  destroying  all  the  sons  who  should 
be  born  to  him.  Saturn,  therefore,  devoured  his  children  immediately 
after  birth.  This  may  be  considered  as  having  an  allegorical  mean 
ing  ;  namely,  that  Time  destroys  all  things. 


Ruins  of  an  ancient  Temple  devoted  to  Religion. 

5.  The  infant  Jupiter  was,  however,  saved  from  destruction  by  his 
mother,  who  privately  conveyed  him  to  a  cave  on  Mount  Ida,  in  Crete, 
where  he  fed  upon  the  milk  of  the  goat  Amalthea,  and  was  brought 
up  by  the  Corybantes,  who,  by  the  noise  of  drums  and  cymbals, 
drowned  his  childish  cries,  and  thus  prevented  Saturn  from  discover- 
ing his  place  of  concealment.  The  Corybantes  were  the  priests  of 
Cybele. 

6.  As  soon  as  he  was  a  year  old,  Jupiter  made  war  against  the 
Titans,  a  race  of  giants  who  had  imprisoned  his  father,  Saturn  ;  and 
having  conquered  them,  set  his  father  at  liberty.  But  Saturn,  having 
soon  alter  conspired  against  him,  was  deposed  by  Jupiter,  and  sent 
into  banishment.  Being  thus  left  sole  master  of  the  world,  Jupitei 
divided  his  empire  with  his  two  brothers,  Neptune  and  Pluto. 

7.  For  himself  he  reserved  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  to  Neptune  he 
gave  dominion  over  the  sea,  and  to  Pluto  the  infernal  regions.  His 
first  name  was  Jovis,  from  which,  by  the  addition  of  Pater,  Father, 
was  formed  Jupiter.     But  the  appellations  given  to  him  were  numer- 

of  Saturn  ?  Is  there  any  al'egorical  meaning  to  this  fable?  5.  How  was  the  infant 
Jupiter  saved  1  Where  was  he  taken  ?  By  whom  was  he  brought  up?  Who  were  the 
Corybantes?  6.  What  cf  the  war  against  the  Titans?  Who  were  the  Titans?  What 
•  hen  became  of  Saturn?    With  whom  did  Jupiter  divide  the  world?    7.   Wha»  of  this 


46 


JUPITER. 


ous,  and  were  derived  eithe:  from  the  actions  which  he  performed,  ot 
from  the  places  where  he  was  worshipped. 

8.  The  peaceful  beginning  of  his  reign  was  disturbed  by  the  giants, 
the  sons  of  Titan,  who,  by  hurling  rocks,  and  heaping  mountains  upon 
mountains,  attempted  to  scale  heaven  ;  so  that  the  gods  affrighted,  fled 
to  Egypt  to  avoid  their  fury.  By  the  assistance  of  Hercules,  Jupiter 
conquered  this  gigantic  race. 


Jupiter. 

9.  As  the  ancients  inconsistently  attribute  to  their  gods  all  the 
passions  and  vices  which  disgrace  human  nature,  so  they  frequently 
represent  Jupiter  as  having  recourse  to  the  most  unworthy  artifices  in 
order  to  accomplish  the  basest  designs. 

10.  Their  poets  describe  him  as  a  majestic  personage,  sitting  upon 
a  throne  of  gold  or  ivory,  under  a  rich  canopy,  holding  a  thunder-bolt 
in  one  hand,  and  in  the  other  a  sceptre  of  cypress.  At  his  feet,  or  on 
his  sceptre,  sits  an  eagle  with  expanded  wings.  He  has  a  flowing 
beard,  and  is  generally  represented  with  golden  shoes,  and  an  embroi 
dered  cloak.  The  Cretans  depicted  him  without  ears,  to  signify  im 
partiality. 

He,  whose  all  conscious  eyes  the  world  behold, 
Th'  eternal  thunderer,  sits  enthroned  in  gold; 
High  heaven  the  footstool  of  his  feet  he  makes, 
And  wide  beneath  him  all  Olympus  shakes.    , 


division?  What  of  the  names  and  appellations  given  to  Jupiter?  8.  What  of  the 
giants?  How  did  Jupiter  conquer  them?  9.  How  do  the  ancients  frequently  represent 
Jupiter?     10.   How  is  he  described  by  the  poets?    By  the  Cretans ? 


APOLLO. 


47 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

Apollo,  Mars,  Mercury. 

i.  Apollo  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Latona,  and  brother  of  the 
goddess  Diana.  He  was  born  in  the  island  of  Delos,  where  his  mother 
fled  to  avoid  the  jealousy  of  Juno.  He  was  the  god  of  all  the  fine  arts, 
and  to  him  is  ascribed  the  invention  of  medicine,  music,  poetry,  and 
eloquence.  He  presided  over  the  muses,  and  had  the  power  of  look- 
ing into  futurity.     His  oracles  were  in  general  repute  over  the  world. 


Apollo. 

52.  Apollo  destroyed  all  the  Cyclops,  who  hac7  fogged  the  thunder- 
bolts with  which  Jupiter  slew  Esculapius,  who  w  is  the  son  of  Apollo. 
For  this  act  he  was  banished  from  heaven  by  Jupiter,  and  deprived  of 
his  divinity.  During  his  exile,  he  hired  himself  as  a  shepherd  to 
Admetus,  King  of  Thessaly,  from  which  circumstance  he  is  called  the 
god  of  shepherds.  He  raised  the  walls  of  Troy  by  the  music  of  his 
harp,  and  destroyed  with  his  arrows  the  serpent  Python. 

3.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  by  Apollo  the  sun  is  to  be  under- 
stood ;  for  which  reason  he  was  called  Sol  by  the  Latins.  He  is 
represented  as  a  graceful  youth,  with  long  hair ,  on  his  head  a  laurel 
crown ;   in  one  hand  a  bow  and  arrows,  in  the  other  a  lyre.     His 

XIX.  — 1.  What  of  Apollo?  Of  what  was  he  the  god?  What  of  his  oracles t 
2  Who  were  the  Cyclops?  Why  was  Apollo  banished  from  heaven?  What  did  he  m 
during  his  exile?    3.   What  is  generally  supposed  u»  he  understood  by  Apollo  ?    How  it 


4£ 


MARS. 


head  is  generally  surrounded  wiih  beams  of  light.  His  most  cele- 
brated oracle  was  at  Delphi ;  and  he  frequently  resided  with  the  musoa 
upon  Mount  Parnassus. 


Mars. 

4  Mars  was  the  god  of  war,  and  son  of  Jupiter  and  Juno.  lie 
«vas  educated  by  the  god  Priapus,  who  instructed  him  in  every  manly 
exercise.  His  temples  were  not  numerous  in  Greece  ;  but  from  the 
warlike  Romans  he  received  unbounded  honors.  His  priests  were 
called  Salii.  They  were  instituted  by  Numa.  and  their  principal 
office  was  to  guard  the  sacred  Ancylia,  one  of  which  was  supposed  to 
have  dropped  from  heaven. 

5.  The  wolf  is  consecrated  to  Mars,  on  account  of  rapaciousness  ; 
the  dog,  for  his  vigilance  in  the  pursuit  of  prey;  the  cock,  for  his 
watchfulness  ;  and  the  raven,  because  he  feeds  on  the  carcasses  of  the 
slain.  He  is  represented  as  an  old  man,  with  a  fierce  countenance, 
armed  with  a  helmet,  a  pike,  and  a  shield. 

6.  He  sits  in  a  chariot,  drawn  by  furious  horses,  which  the  poets 
call  Flight  and  Termor.  His  sister  Bellona,  the  goddess  of  war,  con- 
duets  his  chariot.  Discora,  in  a  tattered  garment,  with  a  torch  in  her 
hand,  goes  before  them,  while  Clamor  and  Anger  follow  behind. 

7.  Mercury  was  the  son  of  Jupiter,  and  of  Maia,  the  daughter  of 
Atlas  He  was  born  in  Arcadia,  upon  Mount  Cyllene,  and  in  his 
infancy  was  entrusted  with  the  care  of  the  seasons.  He  was  the 
messenger  of  the  gods  ;  and  more  especially  of  Jupiter.  He  was  the 
patron  of  travellers  and  shepherds.  He  conducted  the  souls  of  the 
dead  into  the  infernal  regions ;  and  not  only  presided  over  merchants 
and  orators,  but  was  alsc  the  god  of  thieves,  and  of  all  dishonest  per- 
sons. 


he  represented?  4.  What  of  Mars?  His  temples  in  Greece  and  Rnme'j  What  was 
the  duty  of  his  priests?  5,  6.  What  animals  were  consecrated  to  Mars?  How  was  he 
represented?     \   What  of  Mercury?    What  wer»  his  offices ?    8.   Why  was  M  called 


•HEKCURY.  —  BACCHUS 


4y 


8.  He  was  the  inventor  of  letters,  and  excelled  in  eloquence.  Hence 
he  was  called  by  the  Gree.cs  Hermes,  which  signifies  interpreting-  or 
explaining-.  He  first  taught  the  arts  of  buying,  selling,  and  traffick- 
ing, from  whence  he  derived  the  name  of  Mercury,  and  is  accounted 
the  god  of  merchants,  and  of  gain. 

9.  The  very  day  that  he  was  born  he  gave  a  proof  of  his  propensity 
to  thieving,  by  stealing  the  cattle  of  Admetus,  which  Apollo  tended. 
The  divine  shepherd  bent  his  bow  against  him  ;  but,  in  the  mean  time, 
Mercury  stole  his  quiver  and  arrows.  He  afterwards  robbed  Neptune 
of  his  trident,  Venus  of  her  girdle,  Mars  of  his  sword,  Jupiter  of  his 
sceptre,  and  Vulcan  of  his  mechanical  instruments. 

10.  He  is  represented  as  a  young  man,  with  a  cheerful  countenance. 
He  has  wings  fastened  to  his  sandals  and  to  his  cap.  In  his  hand  he 
holds  the  caducp-is,  or  rod,  entwined  with  two  serpents.     A  toucli  of 


Mercury. 

this  wand  would  waken  those  who  were  asleep,  or  cause  sleep  ii  those 
tvho  were  awake. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Bacchus. 

1.  It  is  probable  that  Bacchus,  worshipped  as  the  god  of  wine,  was 
an  ancient  conqueror  and  lawgiver.     He  was  born  in  Egypt,  and 

Hermes?    Why  Mercury?    9.   What  of  his  propensity  for  thieving?    10.  How  ia  he 
^presented  1    What  of  the  power  of  hia  wand  ? 


50 


BACCHLS. 


educated  at  Nysa,  in  Arabia.  He  taught  the  culture  of  the  grape, 
the  art  of  converting  its  juice  into  wine,  and  the  manner  of  making 
honey.  He  was  on  that  account  honored  as  a  god  by  the  Egyptians, 
under  the  name  of  Osiris. 


Bacchus. 

2.  He  subdued  India,  and  many  other  nations.  He  first  taught 
the  use  of  commerce  and  merchandise,  the  art  of  navigation,  and  the 
manner  of  cultivating  the  ground.  He  built  cities,  instituted  wise 
laws,  civilized  many  savage  nations,  and  taught  them  to  worship  the 
gods. 

3.  It  is  said  that  in  his  youth  some  pirates,  having  found  him 
asleep  in  the  island  of  Naxos,  were  struck  with  his  beauty,  and  car- 
ried him  off  in  their  ship,  with  the  intention  of  selling  him  for  a  slave. 
When  Bacchus  awoke,  he  affected  to  weep,  in  order  to  try  the  human- 
ity of  the  sailors.  They  laughed  at  his  distress,  when  suddenly  theiT 
vessel  stood  motionless  on  the  waters. 

4.  Vines  spiang  up,  and  twined  their  branches  round  the  oars, 
masts,  and  sails.  The  infant  god  waved  a  spear,  and  tigers,  panthers, 
and  lynxes  appeared  round  the  ship.  The  pirates,  stupefied  with  fear, 
sprang  into  the  sea,  and  were  changed  into  dolphins,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  the  pilot,  who  had  shown  some  concern  for  the  fate  of 
Bacchus. 


XX.  —  1.  What  is  probable  of  Bacchus  ?  Where  was  he  born  ?  Why  was  he  hohorec 
as  a  goc  by  the  Egyptians?  2.  What  country  did  he  subdue?  What  useful  arts  did  \u 
teach?    What  else  did  he  do?    3,4.  What  of  Bacchus  and  the  pirates?    5.  What  o/ 


VULCAN. 


51 


5.  Being  desirous  of  showing  his  gratitude  to  Midas,  King  of 
Phrygia,  for  some  service  which  that  monarch  had  rendered  him,  thia 
god  desired  him  to  ask  for  whatever  he  wished.  Midas  begged  that 
everything  which  he  touched  might  become  gold,  but  in  a.  short  time 
found  that  he  had  made  a  foolish  request,  since  even  his  meat  and 
drink  were  converted  into  that  metal. 

6.  The  festivals  of  Bacchus  were  celebrated  with  riots  and  excess. 
The  priestesses,  called  Bacchantes,  ran  wild  upon  the  mountains, 
with  dishevelled  hair,  and  torches  in  their  hands,  filling  the  air  with 
shouts,  and  chanting  hymns  in  his  praise.  During  their  celebration, 
the  people  ran  about  the  city  in  masks,  or  with  their  faces  daubed 
with  the  dregs  of  wine. 

7.  The  fir,  the  ivy,  the  fig,  and  the  pine,  were  consecrated  to  Bac- 
chus ;  and  goats  were  sacrificed  to  him,  on  account  of  the  propensity 
of  that  animal  to  destroy  the  vine.  He  is  represented  sometimes  as  an 
effeminate  youth,  and  sometimes  as  a  man  advanced  in  years.  He  is 
crowned  with  ivy  and  vine  leaves. 

8.  In  his  hand  he  holds  a  javelin  with  an  iron  head,  encircled  with 
ivy  or  vine  leaves.  He  sits  in  a  chariot,  drawn  by  tigers  and  lions, 
and  sometimes  by  lynxes  and  panthers ;  while  his  guards  are  a  band 
of  riotous  satyrs,  demons,  and  nymphs. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

Vulcan. 


Vulcan. 

1.    Vulcan  was  the  son  of  Juno;  he  was  the  god  of  fire,  and  the 
patron  of  all  those  artists  who  worked  in  iron  or  other  metals.     He 


Mi Jas  of  Phrygia ?    6.  How  were  the  festivals  of  Bacchus  celebrated?     What  of  the 
Bacchantes?    7,  8.  What  were  consecrated  to  Bacchus?    How  is  he  represented? 
XXI.—  1.  What  of  Vulcan  J     Where  was  he  educated?    Where  did  he  fall,  when 


82  VULCAN. 

was  educated  in  heaven  ;  but  Jupiter,  being-  offended  with  hirn,  hurled 
him  from  Olympus.  He  fell  on  the  island  of  Lemnos,  and  was  a  crip- 
ple ever  after.  He  fixed  his  residence  there,  built  himself  a  palace, 
and  raised  forges  to  work  metals. 

2.  He  forged  the  thunderbolts  of  Jupiter,  and  the  arms  of  the  gods 
and  demi-gods.  The  golden  chambers,  in  which  the  gods  resided, 
were  his  workmanship  ;  also  their  seats,  and  their  council-table,  which 
came  self-moved  from  the  sides  of  the  apartment. 

3.  Pandora,  whom  the  ancients  believed  to  be  the  first  woman  ever 
created,  was  made  of  clay  by  Vulcan.  When  she  had  received  life, 
all  the  gods  gave  her  different  valuable  presents  ;  and  Jupiter  pre- 
sented her  with  a  beautiful  box,  to  be  given  to  the  man  whom  she 
married.  Pandora  carried  it  to  Prometheus,  but  he  would  not  receive 
the  gift.     She  then  married  his  brother  Epimethus. 

4.  When  the  box,  which  she  presented  to  her  husband,  was  opened 
by  him,  innumerable  evils  and  distempers  issued  from  it,  and  dispersed 
themselves  over  the  world,  where  they  still  continue.  Hope  alone 
remained  at  the  bottom  of  the  box,  without  which  the  afflictions  and 
sorrows  of  mankind  could  not  be  borne. 

5.  Vulcan  was  reconciled  to  his  parents,  and  restored  to  his  place 
in  Olympus.  His  lameness  and  deformity  excited  the  constant  laugh- 
ter and  ridicule  of  the  other  gods.  He  married  Venus,  the  goddess  of 
beauty. 

6.  His  forges  were  supposed  to  be  under  Mount  Etna,  in  the  island 
of  Sicily,  and  indeed  in  every  part  of  the  world  where  there  are  volca- 
noes. A  temple  was  erected  upon  Mount  Etna  to  his  honor.  It  was 
guarded  by  dogs,  whose  sense  of  smelling  was  so  exquisite,  that  they 
could  distinguish  the  virtuous  from  the  wicked  in  the  persons  who 
visited  the  temple. 

7.  Vulcan's  servants  were  called  Cyclops ;  they  had  but  one  eye, 
and  this  was  in  the  middle  of  the  forehead.  They  were  of  a  gigantic 
stature.  He  had  also  a  son  of  gigantic  height,  named  Polyphemus, 
King  of  all  the  Cyclops  in  Sicily,  and,  like  them,  one-eyed.  He  fed 
upon  human  flesh. 

8.  When  Ulysses,  the  Greek  prince,  visited  Sicily  with  twelve  of 
his  companions,  Polyphemus  seized  them,  and  confined  them  in  his 
cave.  Every  day  he  devoured  two  of  them  at  a  meal.  At  length 
Ulysses  intoxicated  the  monster  with  wine,  and  taking  a  fire-brand, 
put  out  his  eye,  and  escaped. 

9.  Vulcan  is  usually  represented  at  his  anvil,  with  all  his  tools 
about  him,  forging  a  thunderbolt,  with  a  hammer  and  pincers  in  his 
hand.  His  forehead  is  blackened  with  smoke,  his  arms  are  nervous 
and  muscular,  his  beard  long,  and  his  hair  dishevelled.  The  fable  of 
Vulcan  shows  us  how  highly  the  ancients  esteemed  the  art  of  working 
in  metals,  since  they  supposed  it  to  be  an  occupation  fit  for  a  god. 

10.  The  visit  of  Venus  to  Vulcan's  work-shop  is  thus  described  by 
Homer : 

Jupiter  hurled  him  from  heaven?  2.  What  did  he  make  for  Jupiter  and  the  gods? 
3,4.  What  of  Pandora?  Relate  the  story  of  Pandora's  box.  5.  Whom  did  Vulcar 
•narry,  after  he  was  restore i  to  Olympus?  6.  Where  were  his  forges?  How  were 
his  temples  at  Mount  Etr,d  guarded  ?    7.  Who  were  the  Cyclops  ?    8.  What  of  Polyphe 


I'JlNU 


63 


There  the  lame  architect  the  goddess  round, 
Obscure  in  smoke,  his  forges  flaming  round, 
While  bathed  in  sweat,  from  fire  to  fire  he  Mew, 
And  puffing  loud,  the  roaring  bellows  blew. 
Then  from  his  anvil  the  lame  artist  rose, 
Wide  with  distorted  legs  oblique  he  goes, 
And  stills  the  bellows,  and  in  order  laid, 
Locks  in  their  chest  the  instruments  of  trade  ; 
Then  with  a  sponge  the  sooty  workman  dresse  1 
His  brawny  arms  embrown'd  and  hairy  breast : 
With  his  huge  sceptre  graced,  and  red  attire, 
Came  halting  forth,  the  sovereign  of  the  fire. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 
Juno,  Minerva. 


Juno. 


1.  Jjiso,  the  queen  of  heaven,  was  the  sister  and  wife  of  Jupiiei, 
and  the  daughter  of  Saturn,  and  of  Ops,  otherwise  called  Rhea.  She 
was  born  in  the  isle  of  Samos,  and  resided  there  till  her  marriage  with 
Jupiter.     Her  children  were  Vulcan,  Mars,  and  Hebe. 

2.  The  nuptials  of  Jupiter  and  Juno  were  celebrated  with  the 
utmost  solemnity.  All  the  inhabitants  of  heaven,  and  all  the  dwellers 
upon  earth,  were  the  spectators.  Chelone,  a  nymph  who  refused  to 
attend,  was  changed  by  Mercury  into  a  tortoise,  and  condemned  te 
perpetual  silence. 

3.  The  poets  represent  Juno  with  a  majes;y  we]]  befitting-  the 


mius  and  Ulysses?    9.  How  ia  Vulcan  represented?     10.  Give  Homer's  description  ol 
Tonus'  visit  to  Vulcan's  forge. 

XXII.  —  I.  Who  was  Juno  ?    Where  was  she  born?    Who  were  her  children  ?    2.  How 
were  the  nuptials  of  Jupiter  and  Juno  celebrated  ?     What  of  Chelone?    3.  How  is  Juno 
5* 


54 


IRIS     GANYMEDE. 


empress  of  the  skies.  Her  aspect  combines  all  that  we  can  imagine 
of  the  lofty,  graceful,  and  magnificent.  Her  jealousy  of  Jupiter,  and 
her  disputes  with  him,  occasioned  perpetual  confusion  in  heaven.  On 
account  of  her  cruelty  to  Hercules,  Jupiter  suspended  her  from  the 
skies  by  a  golden  chain.  Vulcan,  having  come  to  her  assistance,  was 
kicked  down  from  heaven  by  Jupiter,  and  broke  his  leg  by  the  fall. 

4.  Of  all  the  pagan  divinities,  her  worship  was  the  most  solemn 
and  universal.  Her  most  famous  temples  were  at  Argos  and  Olympia 
Iris,  or  the  rainbow,  was  her  attendant  and  messengei 


Ins. 


Ganymede. 


5.  Juno  is  represented  as  seated  upon  a  throne,  or  in  a  chariot  ot 
gold  drawn  by  peacocks.  She  holds  a  sceptre  in  her  hand,  and  wears 
a  crown  of  diamonds,  encircled  with  roses  and  lilies.  Hebe,  her 
daughter,  the  goddess  of  youth  and  health,  attends  upon  her  car. 

6.  Hebe  was  the  cup-bearer  of  Jupiter,  but  was  dismissed  from  her 
office  on  account  of  having  fallen  down,  as  she  was  pouring  out  nectar 
for  the  gods  at  a  solemn  festival ;  Ganymede  was  chosen  in  her  stead 
The  chariot  of  Juno  is  thus  described  by  Homer : 

At  her  command  forth  rush  the  steeds  divine  ; 
Rich  wj'.n  immortal  gold,  their  trappings  shine  ; 
Bright  riebe  waits :  by  Hebe,  ever  young, 
The  whirling  wheels  are  to  the  chariot  hung. 
On  the  bright  axle  turns  the  bidden  wheel 
Of  sounding  brass  ;  the  polished  axle  steel ; 
Eight  brazen  spokes  in  radiant  order  flame  ; 
Such  as  the  heavens  produce :  and  round  the  gold, 
Two  brazen  rings  of  work  divine  are  rolled. 
The  bossy  naves  of  solid  silver  shone  ; 


represented  by  the  poets?    What  of  her  jealousy  of  Jupiter?    Her  cruelty  to  Hercules'* 
4.  What  of  her  worship?    Who  was  Iris? 

5.  How  is  Juno  represented?      6.  Who  was  Hebe?     Why  was  she  dismissed?     Who 
wa*  chr sen  in  her  place?    Repeat  Homer's  description  of  the  chariot  of  Juno.     7    Who 


MINERVA,  OR  PALLAS  —  VENUS. 


#> 


Braces  of  gold  suspend  the  moving  throne  ; 
The  car,  behind,  an  arching  figure  bore, 
The  bending  concave  formed  an  arch  before  ; 
Silver  the  beam,  the  extended  yoke  was  gold, 
And  golden  reins  the  immortal  coursers  hold. 


Minerva,  or  Pallas. 


Venus. 


7.  Minerva  was  the  goddess  of  wisdom,  and  is  said  to  have  sprung, 
completely  armed  and  full  grown,  from  the  brain  of  Jupiter.  She  was 
immediately  admitted  into  the  assembly  of  the  gods,  and  became  Jupi- 
ter's faithful  counsellor.  She  was  the  most  acomplished  of  all  the 
goddesses. 

8.  Minerva  invented  the  art  of  spinning,  and  is  frequently  repre- 
sented with  a  distaff  in  her  hand,  instead  of  a  spear.  Arachne,  the 
daughter  of  a  dyer,  was  so  skilful  in  working  with  the  needle,  that 
she  ventured  to  challenge  Minerva  to  a  trial  of  skill.  But  although 
her  work  was  considered  very  beautiful  and  perfect,  it  was  not  equal 
to  that  of  the  goddess.  Arachne  hanged  herself  in  despair,  and  was 
changed  by  Minerva  into  a  spider. 

9.  The  countenance  of  Minerva  was  generally  more  expressive  of 
masculine  firmness,  than  of  grace  or  softness.  She  was  clothed  in 
complete  armor,  with  a  golden  helmet,  a  glittering  crest,  and  nodding 
plume.  She  had  a  golden  breast-plate.  In  her  right  hand  she  held 
a  lance,  and  in  her  left  a  shield,  on  which  was  painted  the  dying  head 
of  Medusa,  with  serpents  writhing  around  it. 

was  Minerva?      What  of  her?    8.  What  did  Minerva  invent?    What  of  Arachne  ?    9 
What  of  Minerva's  appearance?    How  is  she  represented  ? 


56  VENUS   AND   CUPID. 

10.  Her  eyes  were  of  celestial  blue.  A  crown  of  olive  was  en- 
twined round  her  helmet.  Her  chief  emblems  were  the  cock,  the 
owl,  the  basilisk,  and  the  distaff.  Her  worship  was  universally  estab- 
lished ;  but  her  most  magnificent  temples  were  in  the  Acropolis,  the 
upper  city  or  citadel  of  Athens. 

11.  One  was  called  the  Parthenon,  and  was  built  of  the  puiesl 
white  marble.  In  it  was  the  statue  of  the  goddess,  made  of  gold  aim 
ivory.  It  was  twenty-six  cubits  high,  and  was  considered  one  of  the 
master-pieces  of  Phidias.  The  remains  of  this  temple  are  still  to  be 
seen  at  Athens,  and  excite  the  admiration  of  every  beholder. 

12.  Homer's  description  of  Minerva  arming  herself  for  combat  is 
too  beautiful  to  be  omitted. 

Now  heaven's  dread  arms  her  mighty  limbs  invest ; 
Jove's  cuirass  blazes  on  her  ample  breast : 
Decked  in  sad  triumph  for  the  mournful  field, 
O'er  her  broad  shoulders  hangs  his  horrid  shield  • 
Dim,  black,  tremendous!  round  the  margin  rolled, 
A  fringe  of  serpents,  hissing,  guard  the  gold. 
Here  all  the  terrors  of  grim  war  appear  ; 
Here  rages  fire  ;  here  tremble  fright  and  fear ; 
Here  stormed  contention,  and  here  fury  frowned, 
And  the  dire  orb  portentous  Gorgon  crowned. 
The  m&ssy  golden  helm  she  next  assumes, 
That  dreadful  nods  with  four  o'ershadowing  plumes, 
So  vast,  the  broad  circumference  contains 
A  hundred  armies  on  a  hundred  plains. 


f 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Venus  and  Cvpid. 

1.  Venus  was  the  goddess  of  beauty,  the  mother  of  love,  and  the 
'jueen  of  laughter,  grace,  and  pleasure.  She  is  said  to  have  risen 
from  the  froth  of  the  sea,  near  the  island  of  Cyprus.  The  zephyrs 
wafted  her  to  the  shore,  where  she  was  received  by  the  Seasons,  the 
daughters  of  Jupiter  and  Themis.  As  she  walked,  flowers  bloomed 
beneath  her  feet,  and  the  rosy  Hours  dressed  her  in  divine  attire. 

2.  When  she  was  carried  to  heaven,  the  gods,  astonished  at  her 
beauty,  all  rushed  to  obtain  her  in  marriage ;  but  Jupiter  betrothed 
her  to  Vulcan,  the  ugliest  and  most  deformed  of  all  the  deities.  The 
power  of  Venus  was  assisted  by  a  celebrated  girdle  called  zone  by  the 
Greeks,  and  cestus  by  the  Latins.  It  had  the  power  of  giving  grace, 
beauty,  and  elegance,  to  the  person  who  wore  it. 

3.  At  the  marriage  of  Peleus,  King  of  Thessaly,  with  the  sea 

10.  What  were  her  emblems  ?  "What  of  her  worship  and  temples  ?  11.  What  of  the 
statue  of  Minerva?  Whose  work  was  it?  12.  Repeat  Homer's  description  of  Minerva 
arming  herself  for  combat. 

XXIII.  —  1.  Who  was  Venus?  What  of  her?  2.  What  happened  when  she  was  car- 
ried to  heaven  ?    To  whom  was  she  betrothed  ?   What  of  her  zone  and  cestus  7    3  What 


VENUS  AND  CUPID. 


5? 


nvmph  Thetis,  tne  goddess  of  Discord,  in  revenge  for  not  having 
received  an  invitation  to  the  entertainment,  threw  a  golden  apple  into 
the  assembly,  on  which  was  written,  "  For  the  fairest."  Juno,  Venus, 
and  Minerva,  all  claimed  it  as  their  own. 


Adonis. 


Cupid. 


4.  At  length,  unable  to  decide  the  dispute,  they  agreed  to  submit 
to  the  decision  of  Paris,  a  young  shepherd,  who  was  feeding  his  flocks 
upon  Mount  Ida.  The  three  goddesses  tried  to  influence  his  judg- 
ment by  promises  and  entreaties.  Juno  promised  him  a  kingdom  ; 
Minerva,  military  glory  ;  and  Venus,  the  most  beautiful  woman  in  the 
world  for  his  wife. 

5.  Paris  adjudged  the  prize  to  Venus.  In  accordance  with  the 
promise  of  Venus,  Paris  afterwards  obtained  possession  of  Helen,  the 
wife  of  Menelaus,  King  of  Sparta,  who  was  greatly  celebrated  for  her 
beauty.     As  we  have  stated,  this  gave  rise  to  the  famous  Trojan  war. 

6.  Adonis,  the  son  of  the  King  of  Cyprus,  being  slain  by  a  wild 
boar,  Venus  bewailed  his  death  with  much  sorrow,  and  changed  his 
blood,  which  was  shed  on  the  ground,  into  the  flower  anemone. 
When  she  heard  his  dying  voice,  she  flew  to  his  assistance.  A  thorn 
ran  into  her  foot,  and  the  blood  falling  on  a  rose,  changed  that  flower, 
which  before  was  while,  to  red.  She  then  prayed  to  Jupiter,  that 
Adonis  should  be  restored  to  life  for  six  months  every  year  ;  and  nfti 
prayer  was  granted. 


happened  at   the  marriage  of  Peleus  7    4.   Who  was  Paris  ?    What  did  the  goddess* 
oromisehim?    5.   Who  obtained  the  prize?    What  was  the  result  %    i.   What  of  Verms 


58  DIANA,  OR  LUNA 

7.  The  rose,  the  myrtle,  and  the  apple  were  sacred  to  Venus ;  and 
among-  birds,  the  dove,  the  swan,  and  the  sparrow.  She  was  some 
times  described  as  traversing  the  heavens  in  an  ivory  chariot,  drawn 
by  doves.  She  was  clothed  in  a  purple  mantle,  which  glittered  with 
diamonds,  and  was  bound  round  the  waist  by  the  zone. 

8.  Her  doves*  were  harnessed  with  a  light  golden  chain.  Cupid 
and  a  train  of  doves  fluttered  round  her  chariot  on  silken  wings.  The 
three  graces,  Aglaia,  Thalia,  and  Euphrosyne  were  her  attendants. 

9.  At  another  time  she  was  borne  through  the  ocean  in  a  shell,  her 
head  crowned  with  roses,  while  cupids,  nereids,  and  dolphins  sported 
around  her.  She  was  represented  as  perfectly  beautiful  and  graceful, 
with  a  countenance  expressive  of  gentleness  and  gayety. 

10.  Her  temples  were  numerous  ;  but  those  most  celebrated  were 
at  Paphos,  Cythera,  Idalia,  and  Cnidus.  Her  most  beautiful  statue  is 
entitled  the  Venus  de  Medicis,  and  is  still  viewed  with  admiration  by 
all  who  visit  the  gallery  of  Florence. 

11/  Her  favorite  residence  was  supposed  to  be  the  island  of  Cyprus 
ard  her  chief  worshippers  were  at  Paphos,  a  city  of  that  island. 

To  the  soft  Cyprian  shores  she  graceful  moves 
To  visit  Paphos,  and  her  blooming  groves  ; 
While  to  her  power  a  hundred  altars  rise, 
And  grateful  incense  greets  the  balmy  skies. 

12.  Cupid,  the  son  of  Venus,  and  god  of  love,  was  represented  as 
a  beautiful  boy,  with  wings,  a  bow  and  arrows,  and  generally  with  a 
bandage  over  his  eyes.  He  had  wings  to  show  his  caprice  and  desire 
of  change.  He  is  described  as  blind,  because  we  are  apt  to  shut  our 
eyes  to  the  faults  of  those  we  love. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

Diana,  Ceres  and  Vesta. 


V 


1.  Diana,  or  Luna,  was  the  goddess  of  hunting.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Jupiter  and  Latona,  and  the  twin  sister  of  Apollo.  On 
earth  she  was  worshipped  under  the  name  of  Diana,  but  in  heaven  she 
was  called  Luna,  and  in  Tartarus  she  was  invoked  as  Hecate. 

2.  Diana  shunned  the  society  of  men,  and  retired  to  the  woods, 
accompanied  by  sixty  of  the  Oceanides,  daughters  of  Oceanus,  a  pow- 
erful sea-god,  and  by  twenty  other  nymphs,  all  of  whom,  like  herself, 
had  determined  never  to  marry. 

3.  Armed  with  a  golden  bow,  and  lighted  by  a  torch  which  was 

and  Adonis?  His  death?  7.  What  plants  and  birds  were  sacred  to  Venus?  How  was 
she  described  ?  8.  Who  were  her  attendants?  9.  How  was  she  sometimes  represented  ? 
in.  What  of  her  temples?  Where  were  the  most  celebrated?  What  of  her  statue? 
11.  Where  was  her  favorite  residence?  12.  Who  was  Cupid ?  Why  was  he  represented 
>«ith  wings?     Why  as  blind? 

XXIV.  —  1.  Who  was  Diana?  Who  were  her  parents  ?  Under  what  names  was  sne 
worshipped?    2.  Where  did  Diana  dwell?    By  whom  was  she  accompanied?    3,4.  How 


DIANA,  OR  LUNA. 


59 


kindled  at  the  lightnings  of  Jupiter,  she  led  her  nymphs  through  the 
dark  forests  and  woody  mountains,  in  pursuit  of  the  swift  stag.  At 
the  twang  of  her  how,  the  lofty  mountains  were  said  to  tremble,  and 
the  forests  were  said  to  resound  with  the  panting  of  the  wounded 
deer. 

4.  When  the  chase  was  over,  she  would  hasten  to  Delphi,  the  resi- 
dence of  her  brother  Apollo,  and  hang  her  bow  and  quiver  upon  his 
altar.  There  she  would  lead  forth  a  chorus  of  Muses  and  Graces, 
and  join  them  in  singing  praises  to  her  mother  Latona. 

5.  Chione,  a  nymph  beloved  by  Apollo,  was  so  bold  as  to  speak 
with  scorn  of  the  beauty  of  Diana.  The  angry  goddess  drew  her  bow, 
and  shot  an  arrow  through  her  tongue,  thus  cruelly  putting  her  to 
silence. 

6.  CEneus,  a  king  of  Calydon,  made  a  general  sacrifice  to  the  gods 
of  the  first  fruits  of  his  fields  and  orchards,  but  he  omitted  to  make 
any  offering  to  Diana.  To  punish  him  for  this  neglect,  she  sent  a 
fierce  wild  boar  to  ravage  his  vineyard. 


Dinna,  or  Luna. 

7.  Diana  was  represented  as  very  tall  and  beautiful,  and  dressed  as 
a  huntress ;  a  bow  in  her  hand,  a  quiver  of  arrows  hung  across  her 
shoulders,  her  feet  covered  with  buskins,  and  a  bright  silver  crescent 
on  her  forehead.  Sometimes  she  was  described  as  sitting  in  a  silver 
chariot,  drawn  by  hinds.  The  cold  and  bright  moon,  which  scatters 
a  silver  iight  over  the  hills  and  forests,  is  the  type  of  this  goaaess. 


did  Diana  amuse  herself?    5.  Repeat  the  story  of  Chione.     6.   Of  QJneus.     7.  How  was 
Diana  represented?    8.   Who  was  Endymion?    What  was  '-he  story  told  of  him  and 


HO 


CERES. 


8.  Endymion  was  an  astronomer,  who  used  to  pass  the  night  or. 
some  high  mountain,  observing  the  moon  and  the  heavenly  bodies 
From  this  arose  the  ancient  fable,  which  represents  Diana,  or  the 
moon,  descending  from  heaven  to  visit  the  shepherd  Endymion. 

9.  The  temple  of  Diana,  at  Ephesus,  was  reckoned  one  of  tho 
seven  wonders  of  the  world.  A  man  named  Erostratus,  wishing  to 
render  his  name  immortal,  even  by  a  bad  action,  set  fire  to  this  mag- 
nificent temple,  and  burned  it  to  the  ground. 


Ceres. 

10.  Ceres  was  the  goddess  of  corn  and  harvests,  and  the  daughter 
of  Saturn  and  Vesta.  She  was  the  mother  of  Proserpine,  who  was 
carried  off  by  Pluto,  the  god  of  hell,  while  she  was  gathering  flowers 
in  Enna,  a  beautiful  valley  in  Sicily.  When  Ceres  discovered  the  loss 
of  her  daughter,  she  sought  her  all  over  Sicily  ;  and  at  night  lighted 
two  torches  by  the  flames  of  Mount  Etna,  that  she  might  continue  her 
search. 

11.  At  last,  she  met  the  nymph  Arethusa,  who  told  her  that  Pluto 
had  carried  off  her  daughter.  Upon  hearing  this,  Ceres  flew  to 
heaven,  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  two  dragons,  and  begged  Jupiter  to 
command  that  her  daughter  should  be  restored  to  her. 

12.  Jupiter  agreed  to  do  so,  provided  Proserjrine  had  not  eaten  of 


Diana?    9.   What  of  the  temple  of  Diana?    What  was  done  by  Erostratus?     10.   Who 
was  Ceres?    What  happened  to  Proserpine?    Where  did  Ceres  seek  for  her  daughter? 

11.  Of  whom  did  she  learn  the  fate  of  Proserpine?    How  did  she  continue  her  search  1 

12.  Why  was  Proserpine's  return  to  earth  impossible?     13.  What  was  she  permitted  to 


CERES  6 1 

anything  in  Pluto's  kingdom.  Upon  this,  Ceres  hastened  to  Pluto, 
but  Proserpine  had  unfortunately  eaten  the  grains  of  a  pomegranate 
which  she  had  gathered  in  the  Elysian  fields,  and  her  return  to  earth 
was  therefore  impossible. 

13.  Jupiter,  however,  was  moved  with  pity  for  the  grief  of  Ceres>, 
and  permitted  Proserpine  to  pass  six  months  of  every  year  in  her 
society.  When  Ceres  was  searching  for  her  daughter,  being  very 
weary  with  travelling,  she  stopped  at  the  cottage  of  an  old  woman 
named  Baubo,  and  begged  for  a  little  water.  The  old  woman  not 
only  gave  her  water,  but  barley  broth.  The  goddess  began  to  eat 
broth  with  much  eagerness.  A  little  boy  named  Stellio,  the  son  of 
Baubo,  mocked  her,  upon  which  Ceres  threw  some  in  his  face,  and  he 
was  changed  into  a  lizard. 

14.  When  Ceres  returned  to  the  earth,  she  found  that  it  had  suf- 
fered greatly  in  her  absence,  from  want  of  cultivation  ;  Attica,  in  par- 
ticular, had  become  very  barren  and  desolate.  Triptolemus  was  the 
son  of  Celeus,  King  of  Eleusis,  a  town  in  Attica.  Ceres  having  been 
hospitably  received  by  Celeus  during  her  journey,  instructed  Triptole- 
mus in  the  arts  of  agriculture. 

15.  She  taught  him  to  plough,  to  sow,  and  to  reap  ;  also  how  to 
make  bread,  and  rear  fruit  trees.  She  then  presented  him  with  a 
chariot  drawn  by  flying  dragons,  and  sent  him  to  teach  husbandry  to 
mankind.  At.  that  time,  men  lived  upon  roots  and  acorns,  but  Trip- 
tolemus showed  them  how  to  sow  their  fields  with  wheat,  which  he 
had  received  from  Ceres. 

16.  The  most  celebrated  festivals  in  honor  of  Ceres  were  held  at 
Eleusis.  As  we  have  related,  they  were  called  the  Eleusinian  Mys- 
teries, on  account  of  the  secrecy  with  which  they  were  conducted 
Those  who  were  admitted  to  these  solemn  assemblies  were  called  the 
initiated. 

17.  The  new  member  was  bound  by  a  solemn  oath  to  secrecy,  and 
dismissed.  By  these  means  the  initiated  were  struck  with  terror,  not 
being  aware  that  they  were  merely  contrivances  of  the  priests  to  im- 
press their  minds  with  religious  awe.  It  is  probable  that  these  mys- 
terious associations  first  gave  the  moderns  the  idea  of  free-masonry. 

18.  Ceres  is  represented  as  tall  and  majestic.  A  wreath  of  corn  is 
bound  round  her  golden  hair.  She  holds  a  sickle  in  her  right  hand, 
and  in  her  left  a  lighted  torch.  There  were  many  festivals  in  honor 
of  Ceres,  and  many  splendid  temples  erected  to  her.  The  husband 
men  offered  sacrifices  to  her  in  the  spring,  and  oblations  of  wine, 
honey,  and  milk.     Virgil  thus  mentions  these  rustic  ceremonies  : 

To  Ceres  bland,  her  annual  rites  be  paid, 
On  the  green  turf,  beneath  the  fragrant  shade, 
When  winter  ends,  and  spring  serenely  shines  ; 
Then  fat  the  lambs,  then  mellow  are  the  wines, 
Then  sweet  are  slumbers  on  the  flowery  ground, 
Then  with  thick  shades  are  lofty  mountains  crowned. 

do?  Repeat  the  story  of  Ceres  and  Baubo.  14.  What  had  happened  while  Ceres  was 
absent?  What  of  Triptolemus?  15.  What  did  Ceres  teach  Triptolemus?  16.  Where 
>verethe  festivals  in  honor  of  Ceres  held?  What  of  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  ?  17.  How 
vas  a  new  member  bound  ?  18.  How  is  Ceres  represented  ?  What  of  her  festivals  and 
6 


<$\> 


MARINE  GODS. 


Let  all  the  hinds  bend  low  at  Ceres'  shrine  ; 

Mix  honey  sweet  for  her,  with  milk  and  mellow  wine  ; 

Thrice  lead  the  victim  the  new  fruits  around, 

And  Ceres  call,  and  choral  hymns  resound 


Vesta. 

19.  This  goddess  was  the  daughter  of  Saturn  and  Rhea,  flet 
worship  was  introduced  into  Italy  hy  iEneas,  a  famous  Trojan  prince, 
and  her  rites  at  Rome  varied  from  those  in  Greece.  The  palladium 
of  Troy  was  preserved  in  her  temple,  and  upon  its  continuance  there 
the  safety  of  Rome  was  supposed  to  depend. 

20.  In  the  temple  of  Vesta  a  perpetual  fire  was  kept  burning  ;  and 
seven  priestesses  were  chosen,  whose  duty  it  was  to  prevent  this  fire 
from  being  extinguished.  These  priestesses  were  called  Vestal  vir- 
gins. If,  owing  to  any  accident  or  negligence  on  the  part  of  the  Ves- 
tals, the  sacred  fire  was  permitted  to  go  out,  the  offender  was  severely 
punished  by  the  high  priest. 

21.  The  Vestals  were  chosen  from  the  age  of  six  to  that  of  ten. 
They  were  bound  to  remain  unmarried  for  thirty  years.  For  ten  years 
(hey  were  employed  in  learning  their  duty  ;  the  ten  following  were 
occupied  in  discharging  the  functions  of  their  office  ;  the  other  ten  in 
instructing  the  young  novices.  If  any  one  neglected  her  dutv,  or 
broke  her  vows,  she  was  buried  alive ;  being  shut  up  in  a  vault  under 
ground,  with  a  lamp,  and  a  little  bread,  wine,  water,  and  oil. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 


Marine  Gods,  —  Neptune,  Triton,  Ocea7ius,  and  JSereus. 

1.   The  Marine  gods  were  Neptune,  Triton,  Oceanus,  and  Nerejs. 
Neptune  was  the  son  of  Saturn  and  Ops.      He  received  from  his 

ceremonies?     19.   Who  was  Vesta?     What  of  her  worship?     What  of  the  palladium  of 
Troy?    20.  What  of  the  sacred  fire  in  the  temple  of  Vesta  I     What  happened  if  this  fire 
was  extinguished?    21.  At  what  age  were  the  vestals  chosen  ?     What  were  their  duties  ? 
What  were  their  punishments? 
XXV. —  1.  Who  were  the  marine  go-%?    Who  was  Neptm.c?    What  empne  did  he 


NEPTUNE. 


63 


brother  Jupker  the  sovereignty  of  the  sea.  Rivers,  fountains,  and  all 
waters,  were  subject  to  him.  He  could  raise  earthquakes  at  his  pleas- 
ure, and  with  a  blow  of  his  trident  he  could  cause  islands  to  spring 
from  the  bottom  of  the  ocean. 


Neptune. 

2.  He  was  the  god  of  ships,  and  of  all  maritime  affairs.  At  his 
command,  dreadful  storms  arose,  and  vessels  were  swallowed  up  by 
the  waves.  But,  with  a  word,  he  could  still  the  tempest  and  allay 
the  fury  of  the  waters. 

3.  During  the  Trojan  war,  Neptune  sat  upon  the  top  of  a  woody 
mountain,  in  the  isle  of  Samos,  and  looked  down  upon  the  combat. 
Seeing  the  Trojans  victorious,  his  wrath  was  kindled  against  Jupiter. 
He  rose  up,  and  descended  from  the  mountain,  which  trembled  as  he 
walked. 

4.  Tn  three  steps  he  crossed  the  whole  horizon  ;  with  the  fourth, 
he  reached  his  palace,  in  the  deeps  of  the  sea.  Then  he  mounted  his 
chariot,  and  drove  so  rapidly  over  the  waves,  that  the  water  scarcely 
touched  the  brazen  axle  of  his  chariot.  The  whales  and  sea-monsters 
all  rose  to  do  him  honor.  The  waves  shook  with  fear,  and  fell  back 
respectfully  as  he  passed. 

5.  He  wished  to  marry  Amphitrite,  and  sent  a  dolphin  to  persuade 
her  to  become  his  wife.  Amphitrite  was  the  daughter  of  Oceanus 
and  Hatys.  To  reward  the  dolphin  for  obtaining  the  consent  of 
Amphitrite,  Neptune  placed  that  fish  among  the  stars,  where  it 
became  a  constellation.     Amphitrite  has  been  thus  described. 

6.  ';  Several  dolphins  appeared,  whose  scales  seemed  gold  and 
azure  ;  they  swelled  the  waves,  and   made   them  iw~m  with   their 

receive  from  Jupiter  *  2.  What  power  had  he?  3.  What  of  Neptune  during  the  Trojan 
war?  4.  What  of  aim  when  he  walked?  5.  Who  wa3  Amphitrite?  How  waa  she 
oersuaded  to  marry  Neptune?    How  was  the  dolphin  rewarded?    6,  7,  8,  9.   How  is 


IH  TRITON. 

sporting- ;  after  them  came  tritons,  blowing  their  curved  shells  ;  they 
surrounded  Amphitrite's  chariot,  drawn  by  sea-horses  that  were 
whiter  than  snow,  and  which  ploughed  the  briny  waves,  and  left  a 
deep  furrow  behind  them  in  the  sea ;  their  eyes  flamed,  and  foam 
issued  from  their  mouths. 

7.  "  The  goddess'  car  was  a  shell  of  marvellous  form  ;  it  was  of  a 
more  shining  white  than  ivory  ;  its  wheels  were  of  gold,  and  it  seemed 
to  skim  the  surface  of  the  peaceful  waters.  Nymphs,  crowned  with 
flowers,  whose  lovely  tresses  flowed  over  their  shoulders,  and  waved 
with  the  winds,  swam  in  shoals  behind  the  car. 

8.  "  The  goddess  had,  in  one  hand,  a  sceptre  of  gold,  to  command 
the  waves  ;  and,  with  the  other,  held  on  her  knees  the  little  god 
Palemon,  her  son,  who  hung  at  her  breast.  Her  countenance  was  se- 
rene and  mild ,  but  an  air  of  majesty  repressed  every  seditious  wind  and 
lowering  tempest.    Tritons  guided  the  steeds,  and  held  the  golden  reins. 

9.  "A  large  purple  sail  waved  in  the  air  above  the  car,  and  was 
gently  swelled  by  a  multitude  of  little  zephyrs,  who  strove  to  blow  it 
forward  with  their  breath.  In  the  midst  of  the  air  iEolus  appeared 
busy,  restless,  and  vehement ;  his  wrinkled  face  and  sour  looks,  his 
threatening  voice,  his  long  bushy  eyebrows,  his  eyes  full  of  gloomy 
fire  and  severity,  silenced  the  fierce  north  winds,  and  drove  back 
every  cloud.  Immense  whales,  and  all  the  monsters  of  the  deep, 
issued  in  haste  from  their  profound  grottos  to  view  the  goddess." 

10.  Neptune  was  represented  as  a  majestic  god,  with  a  grim  and 
angry  aspect.  He  had  black  hair  and  blue  eyes,  and  wore  a  bright 
blue  mantle.  He  sat  upright  in  his  chariot.  In  his  right  hand  he  held 
his  trident ;  with  his  left,  he  sometimes  supported  his  queen  Amphi- 
trite.     His  chariot  was  a  large  shell,  drawn  by  sea-horses,  or  dolphins. 

11.  The  worship  of  Neptune  was  very  general.  The  Libyans 
considered  him  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  gods.  The  celebrated 
Isthmian  games  were  instituted  by  the  Greeks  in  honor  of  him.  He 
was  the  father  of  Proteus  and  of  Triton. 


Triton. 

12.   Triton  was  the  son  of  Neptune  and  Amphitiite,  and  was  trum 

imphitrite  described  ?    10.  How  was  Neptune  represented  ?    11.  What  of  his  worship? 


THE  INFERNAL  DEITIES.  66 

peter  to  his  father.     He  is  described  as  half  man  and  half  fish,  and  is 
generally  represented  in  the  act  of  blowing-  a  shell. 

13.  He  was  a  very  powerful  marine  deity,  and  could  raise  storms 
at  sea,  and  calm  them  at  his  pleasure. 

High  on  the  stern  the  sea-green  god  appears  ; 
Frowning,  he  seems  his  crooked  shell  to  sound, 
And  at  the  blast  the  billows  dance  around. 

14.  Oceanus  was  an  ancient  sea-god,  the  son  of  Ccelus  and  Vesta. 
When  Jupiter  became  King;  of  Heaven,  he  took  away  the  empire  of 
Oceanus  and  gave  it  to  Neptune.  He  married  Thetis,  which  word  is 
sometimes  used  in  poetry  to  signify  the  sea.  He  had  three  thousand 
children,  and  was  the  father  of  the  rivers. 

15.  He  was  described  as  an  old  man,  with  a  long  flowing  beard, 
sitting  upon  the  waves  of  the  sea.  He  held  a  pike  in  his  hand  ;  and 
a  sea-monster  stood  by  his  side.  The  ancients  prayed  to  him  with 
great  solemnity,  before  setting  off  upon  any  voyage. 

16.  Nereus  was  the  son  of  Oceanus.  He  married  Doris,  and  was 
the  father  of  fifty  sea-nymphs,  called  Nereides.  He  lived  chiefly  in 
the  ^Egean  Sea,  and  was  represented  as  an  old  man,  with  azure  hair. 
He  had  the  gift  of  foretelling  future  events.  He  was  often  drawn 
with  his  daughters,  the  Nereides,  dancing  around  him  in  chorus. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

The  infernal  Deities.  —  Pluto,  Plutus,  and  Somnus. 

1.  The  deities  of  this  class  are  Pluto,  Plutus,  and  Somnus. 
Among  these  Pluto  stands  first.  He  was  the  King  of  Hell,  and  the 
son  of  Saturn  and  Ops. 

2.  None  of  the  goddesses  would  marry  him,  because  of  the  sadness 
and  gloominess  of  the  infernal  regions  where  he  resided,  and,  for  this 
reason,  he  was  determined  to  obtain  one  of  them  by  force.  He  carried 
away  Proserpine,  whom  he  saw  gathering  flowers  with  her  com- 
panions in  Sicily,  driving  up  to  her  in  his  black  chariot  and  coal- 
black  horses,  and  forcing  her  away,  notwithstanding  all  her  tears. 

3.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  young  nymph  Cyone  tried  to  stop  the 
snorting  steeds,  for  Pluto  struck  the  ground  with  his  sceptre,  whrn 
instantly  the  earth  opened,  and  the  chariot  and  horses  descended 
through  the  rift  with  Pluto  and  Proserpine ;  the  latter  then  became 
the  Queen  of  Hell. 

4.  Black  victims,  and  particularly  black  bulls,  were  sacrificed  to 
this  gloomy  god  ;  the  blood  of  the  slaughtered  animal  was  sprinkled 

The  Isthmian  games?  12.  Who  was  Triton  ?  How  was  he  represented  ?  13  What  of 
his  power?  14.  Who  was  Oceanus?  Whom  did  he  marry  ?  15.  How  was  he  repre- 
sented? How  did  the  ancients  pray  to  him?  16.  Who  was  Nereus?  How  was  he 
'epresented  ? 

XXVI. —  1.    Who  was  Pluto?    2.   Why  would  none  of  the  goddesses  marry  him? 
lIow  did  he  obtain  Proserp/ne?    3.  How*  did  he  escape  with  her?    4.  What  animals 
5 


66 


PLUTO  -  PLUTUS  —  SOMNLS. 


upon  the  ground,  that  it  might  penetrate  to  the  infernal   regions 
The  melancholy  cypress  tree  was  sacred  to  him,  and  also  the  narcis 


Pluto. 

sus  and  the  white  daffodil,  because  Proserpine  was  gathering  these 
flowers  whfMi  Pluto  carried  her  away. 


5.   He  was  re 


Plutus. 
sitting  upon  a  throne  ot  sulphu.,  «r\\i\  a 


TERRESTRIAL  GODS  AND  GODDESSES. 


67 


crown  of  cypress.  The  three-headed  dog  Cerberus  kept  watch  at  his 
feet.  His  queen,  Proserpine,  sat  on  his  left  hand.  He  held  a  key,  to 
signify  that  when  the  dead  are  received  into  his  kingdom,  the  gates 
are  locked,  and  they  can  never  return  to  life  again. 

6.  Plutus  was  the  god  of  riches.  He  was  the  son  of  Jason  and 
Ceres.  He  is  represented  as  blind  and  injudicious,  to  show  us  thai 
wealth  is  frequently  given  to  wicked  men,  whilst  good  men  remaiu 
in  poverty.  He  is  described  as  being  lame,  to  show  us  that  great 
riches  are  acquired  slowly.  He  was  said  to  be  timid  and  fearful,  to 
represent  the  care  with  which  men  watch  over  their  treasures.  His 
wings  are  meant  to  show  the  quickness  with  which  riches  are  lost 


Somnus. 

7.  Somnus  was  the  god  of  sleep,  and  the  son  of  Erebus  md 
Nox.  His  palace  was  a  dark  cave,  where  the  sun  never  penetrated. 
Poppies  grew  at  the  entrance,  and  Somnus  himself  was  supposed  to 
be  always  asleep  upon  a  bed  of  feathers,  with  black  curtains.  In  his 
palace  there  were  two  gates,  through  which  dreams  passed  and 
Morpheus  was  his  chief  minister. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

The  Terrestrial  Gods  and  Goddesses. 

1.  Besides  the  deities  we  have  already  mentioned,  there  were 
others,  whose  chief  residence  was  the  earth,  and  who  were  inferior 
in  dignity  to  Jupiter,  Neptune,  Apollo,  Minerva,  Ceres,  Vulcan, 
Juno,  Mars,  Mercury,  Diana,  Venus,  and  Vesta. 

were  sacrificed  to  him?    Why  were  the  narcissus  and  daffodil  sacred  to  him?    5.   How 
was  he  represented  ?    6.  Who  was  Plutus  ?     Why  was  he  represented  as  injudicious  and 
blind?     Why  as  lame?    Why  timid?    Why  with   wings?      7.   Who  was  Somnus? 
What  of  his  palace  ?     How  was  he  represented  ?    Who  was  Morpheus  ? 
XXVII.  —  1.   Were  there  other  deities  besides  those  already  mentioned  ?    3.  Who  wai 


D»  TERRESTRIAL  GODS  AND  GODDESSES. 

2.  These  twelve  deities  being  held  in  the  greatest  reverence, 
especially  by  the  Athenians,  their  portraits  were  placed  in  a  gallery 
called  the  Ceramicus.  We  shall  now  proceed  to  describe  some  of 
the  inferior  gods  who  were  considered  terrestrial. 

3.  Latona  was  the  daughter  of  Phoebe  and  of  Corus  the  Titan 
She  was  at  one  time  a  celestial  goddess,  but  her  beauty  was  so  great, 
that  she  was  admired  by  all  the  gods,  and  especially  by  Jupiter. 
This  excited  the  jealousy  of  Juno,  and  she  caused  Latona  to  be  cast 
out  of  heaven,  and  sent  the  serpent  Python  to  persecute  her. 

4.  Latona  wandered  from  place  to  place.  The  heavens  would  not 
receive  her  again.  Terra,  or  the  earth,  refused  to  give  her  a  resting 
place,  fearful  of  offending  Juno.  The  serpent  Python  pursued  and 
terrified  her. 

5.  At  length  Neptune  was  moved  with  pity  for  the  fugitive.  The 
island  Delos  used  to  wander  through  the  JEgean  Sea  ;  sometimes  it 
appeared  above  the  waters,  and  then  sunk  below  them.  Neptune 
struck  the  island  with  his  trident.  It  became  immovable,  and  Latona 
flew  there  in  the  shape  of  a  quail.  Here  her  children,  Apollo  and 
Diana,  were  born. 

6.  But  Juno  did  not  cease  to  persecute  her,  and  Latona  was  obliged 
to  fly  from  Delos.  She  travelled  over  the  greatest  part  of  the  world, 
and  at  last  arrived  at  the  country  of  Lycia,  in  Asia.  Here  she  wan- 
dered through  the  fields  when  the  heat  of  the  sun  was  very  great. 
She  had  become  faint  and  thirsty,  when  seeing  a  spring  in  a  cool 
valley,  she  ran  towards  it  with  great  joy. 

7.  The  goddess  knelt  down  to  quench  her  thirst  in  the  cool  waters 
Some  rude  peasants,  who  were  employed  in  weeding  a  marsh,  drove 
her  away.    Latona  earnestly  begged  them  to  have  mercy  upon  her. 


-Why  hinder  you,  said  she, 


The  use  of  water  that  to  all  is  free  ? 
The  sun,  the  air,  the  pure  and  cooling  wave, 
Nature  made  free  ;  I  claim  the  boon  she  gave  : 
My  tongue  wants  moisture,  and  my  jaws  are  dry 
Scarce  is  their  way  for  speech  ;  for  drink  I  die  ; 
Water  to  me  were  nectar. 

8.  But  the  peasants  were  deaf  to  her  entreaties.  Latona  turne< 
round,  as  she  was  leaving  the  valley,  and  called  to  Jupiter  to  punish 
their  barbarity.     Immediately  they  were  all  changed  into  frogs. 

9.  Niobe  was  the  daughter  of  Totalus,  and  the  wife  of  Amphion, 
King  of  Thebes.  She  had  fourteen  beautiful  children,  of  whom  she 
was  very  proud.  She  had  the  imprudence  to  scoff  at  Latona,  and  to 
say  that  she  herself  had  a  better  right  to  altars  and  sacrifices  than  the 
mother  of  Apollo  and  Diana. 

10.  Upon  hearing  this,  Latona  desired  her  children  to  punish  the 
proud  Niobe.  Diana  and  Apollo  armed  themselves  with  arrows,  and 
hastened  to  obey  their  mother.  The  sons  of  Niobe  were  pierced  with 
the  darts  of  Apollo,  and  her  daughters  were   destroyed   by  Diana. 

Latona?  What  happened  to  her  ?  4.  What  of  the  serpent  Python  ?  5.  What  did  Nep- 
tune do  with  the  island  Delos?  6.  Why  was  Latona  ub'.iged  to  fly  from  Delos  ?  Where 
did  she  at  last  arrive  ?  7.  What  of  Laiona  and  the  peasants  ?  What  did  Latona  say  7 
3.  How  were  the  peasants  punished  ?    9.  Who  was  Niobe  ?     How  did  she  offend  Latona  7 


AURORA. 


CO 


The  unfortunate  Niobe,  deprived  of  her  children,  wandered  into  t!»fi 
wilderness,  and  wept  bitterly.  The  gods  pitied  her,  and  changed  hex 
into  a  stone. 

11.    Latona  was  worshipped  at  Argos  and  Delus,  and  was  orWe-J 
loi  her  misfortune  by  seeing  her  children  receive  divine  honor*. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

Aurora. 


Aurora. 

1.  Aurora  was  the  goddess  of  the  morning,  the  sister  of  the  sun 
and  moon,  and  the  mother  of  the  stars  and  winds.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Terra  and  Titan,  or,  as  some  say,  of  Hyperion  and  Thea. 
She  married  Astrjeus,  son  of  the  Titans.  The  poets  represent  her  as 
sitting  in  a  golden  chariot,  drawn  by  horses  as  white  as  snow. 

2.  A  brilliant  star  sparkles  upon  her  forehead.  With  her  rosy 
fingers  she  opens  the  gates  of  the  east,  lifts  the  dark  veil  of  night, 
and  pours  dew  upon  the  grass  and  flowers.  The  stars  fade  at  her 
approach,  for  they  know  that  the  rosy  clouds  which  surround  her 
foretell  the  arrival  of  the  sun. 

3.  Aurora  also  married  Tithonus,  a  Trojan  prince.  Tithonus 
prayed  her  to  grant  him  immortality.     The  goddess  obtained  this 

10.  How  were  her  children  destroyed?    Into  what  was  she  changed  by  the  gods?    II 
What  of  the  worship  of  Latona? 

XXVIII.  — I.  Who  was  Aurora?    Her  parents?    How  do  the  poets  represent  her? 
3.  Who  was  Tithonus?    What  did  he  ask  of  Aurora?    4.  Into  what  was  he  changed? 


70 


PAN 


gift  for  him ;  but  she  forgot  to  ask  for  the  vigor,  youth,  and  Deauty, 
which  alone  could  make  immortal  life  desirable. 

4.  Therefore,  Tithonus  became  old  and  infirm.  Weary  of  life,  he 
prayed  to  Aurora  to  let  him  die.  The  goddess  could  not  grant  this 
prayer,  but  she  changed  him  into  a  grasshopper. 

5.  This  insect  was  considered  by  the  ancients  as  peculiarly  happy 
and  long-lived.     The  Greek  poet  Anacreon  says, 

Oh  thou,  of  all  creation  blest, 
Sweet  insect,  that  deiight'st  to  rest 
Upon  the  wild  wood's  leafy  tops, 
To  drink  the  dew  that  morning  drops, 
And  chirp  thy  song  with  such  a  glee, 
That  happiest  kings  may  envy  thee  ! 
Whatever  decks  the  velvet  field, 
Whate'er  the  circling  seasons  yield, 
Whatever  buds,  whatever  blows, 
For  thee  it  buds,  for  thee  it  grows. 


Pan. 


6.  Pan  was  the  god  of  shepherds  and  huntsmen,  and  the  mos: 
eminent  of  all  the  rural  deities.  He  was  born  in  Arcadia,  and  was 
the  son  of  Mercury.  His  mother  was  generally  supposed  to  be 
Dryope,  an  Arcadian  nymph. 

7.  He  invented  the  pastoral  flute,  with  seven  tubes,  which  he  called 
Syrinx ;  a  nymph  of  that  name,  whom  he  'oved,  fled  from  him,  and 
the  gods  changed  her  into  a  bundle  of  reeds.  All  strange  noises 
heard  in  solitary  places  were  attributed  to  Pan.  For  this  reason,  fear 
without  cause  is  called  a  panic. 

8.  He  was  represented  as  a  grotesque  figure,  half  man  and  half 
beast.     He  had  a  long  beard,  and  the  horns,  legs  and  feet  of  a  goat. 

5.  Repeat  the  verses  of  Anacreon  on  the  grassh(  pper.    6.  Who  was  Pan  ?    What  of  his 
birtnJ    7.  What  did  he  inven*,?    Who  was  Syrinx?    Into  what  was  she  changed  1 


FLORA.  — COMUS. 


71 


lie  had  a  ruddy  complexion.     His  head  is  crowned  with  pine,  and 
he  holds  in  one  hand  a  staff,  and  in  the  other  his  pipe  of  reeds. 


Fan  and  Apollo 

The   nymphs  danced  around  him,  and   the  gods  themselves  were 
cheered  by  his  music.     Ee  even  taught  that  art  to  Apollo. 


Flora.  Comus. 

9     Flora   was  the   goddess   of  flowers   and  gardens.     She  wa» 
8   How  was  Pan  represented?    9.  Who  was  Flora?    How  was  she  described?    What 


72 


POMONA.  -JEOLUS. 


described"  as  a  beautiful  female,  blessed  with  perpetual  youth.  .She 
wore  a  crown  of  flowers,  her  robe  was  covered  with  garlands  of 
roses,  and  she  held  a  cornucopia,  or  horn  of  plenty. 

10.  Comus  was  the  god  of  revelry  and  feasting.  He  presided 
over  entertainments,  and  was  usually  represented  as  v  young  and 
drunken  man,  sometimes  with  a  torch  in  his  hand,  and  at  other  times 
with  a  mask.  Though  standing  upright,  he  appeared  more  asleep 
than  awake,  except  when  somewhat  excited.  During  his  festivals, 
men  and  women  often  exchanged  dresses  with  each  other.  Perhaps 
this  may  be  an  allegory,  to  set  forth  that  excess  in  drinking  makes 
women  bold,  and  iwn  oftentimes  effeminate. 


Pomona. 

il.  Pffmona  was  the  goddess  of  fruit-trees,  and  is  represented  in 
the  prime  of  beauty  and  health,  decorated  with  the  blossoms  of  fruit- 
trees,  holding  in  her  hand  a  branch  loaded  with  apples. 

12.  iEolus  was  the  god  of  the  winds.  He  lived  in  one  of  the 
^Eolian  islands,  which  received  their  name  from  him.  He  had  the 
power  of  foretelling  winds  and  tempests  long  before  they  arose  ;  and 
could  also  raise  and  control  them  at  his  will.  When  Ulysses  visited 
this  god  in  his  island,  Mollis  gave  him  a  bag,  in  which  all  the  contrary 
winds  were  tied  up,  in  order  that  he  might  have  a  speedy  passage. 

13.  The  companions  of  Ulysses,  desirous  of  knowing  what  this  bag 


lid  she  wear  ?  10.  Who  was  Comus  ?  What  happened  during  his  festivals  ?  What  may 
perhaps  be  meant  by  this?  11.  Who  was  Pomona?  How  was  she  represented  J 
i2    Wno  was  -/Bolus?    Where  did  he  live?    What  power  had  he?    W h«V.  did  he  give 


.EOLUS.  —  ASTREA 


73 


contained    opened  it.     The  winds   rushed  out,  and  destroyed   the 
wlioJe  fleet,  with  the  exception  of  the  ship  which  carried   Ulysses. 


JEolus. 

It  is  supposed  that  ^Eolus  was  a  skilful  astronomer  and  natural  phi- 
losopher, and  that  he  invented  sails,  for  which  reason  the  poets 
called  him  the  god  of  the  winds. 


Astrea. 


14.    Morous  was  the  god  of  pleasantry  and  folly,  and  was  born  of 

'"ysses?     13.  What  happened  lo  the  fleet  of  Ulysses  ?     \<1.  Who  was  Momus?    Why 

7 


74  THE  MOftE  ANCIENT  GODS. 

Night  and  Sleep.  His  constant  employment  was  laughing  at  tne 
other  gods,  and  turning  them  into  ridicule.  At  length,  growing  tired 
of  his  observations  upon  their  conduct,  they  drove  him  from  heaven. 

15.  Astrea  was  the  goddess  of  justice,  and  was  sometimes  called 
the  daughter  of  Themis.  At  other  times  she  was  confounded  with 
that  goddess,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Cffilus  and  Terra.  Astrea 
lived  upon  earth  in  the  golden  age,  but  the  wickedness  and  impiety  of 
men  drove  her  to  heaven. 

16.  She  was  represented  as  a  stern  and  majestic  goddess.  In  one 
hand  she  held  a  balance,  in  which  she  weighed  the  good  and  bad 
actions  of  men.  In  the  other  she  held  a  sword,  to  show  her  power 
of  punishing  the  wicked.  Over  her  eyes  is  a  bandage,  to  represent 
the  impartiality  with  which  she  listened  to  persons  of  all  conditions. 

17.  Terminus  was  the  god  oi'  boundaries.  It  was  his  office  to  see 
that  no  one  usurped  the  land  of  his  neighbor,  or  encroached  beyond 
his  own  limits.  His  image  was  a  stone  head,  without  feet  or  arms, 
to  intimate  that  he  never  moved  from  the  place  where  he  was  sta- 
tioned. 

18.  Nemesis  was  the  goddess  of  vengeance.  She  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  Nox  and  Oceanus.  She  rewarded  virtue,  and  punished  vice. 
In  Attica  she  had  a  celebrated  statue,  sculptured  by  Phidias. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

The  more  ancient  Gods. 

1.  The  most  ancient  of  all  the  Grecian  deities  was  Chaos.  The 
word  chaos  means  a  rude  and  shapeless  mass  of  matter.  In  this  con- 
dition the  poets  suppose  the  world  to  have  existed  before  an  Almighty 
voice  called  the  confused  elements  into  order.  Chaos  was  the  con- 
sort of  darkness,  and  of  them  was  born  Terra,  that  is,  the  earth. 
Thus  the  obscure  fiction  of  the  poets  agrees  with  the  inspired  ac- 
count given  us  by  Moses : 

2.  '*  And  the  earth  was  without  form,  and  void,  and  darkness  was 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep.  And  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the 
face  of  the  waters.  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was 
light." 

3.  Although  we  have  mentioned  the  notions  of  the  Greeks  in  regard 
to  their  earliest  deities,  it  may  be  well  to  notice  them  a  little  more  in 
detail.  Terra,  the  earth,  married  Coslus,  or  heaven.  Their  children 
were  Titan  and  Saturn.     Titan  was  the  elder  son,  but  he  gave  up  his 

was  he  banished  from  heaven?     15.  Who  was  Astrea?     What  of  her?    Why  did  she 
leave  tne  earth?     16.  How  was  she  represented?     Why  is  she  represented  as  blind' 
17.  Who  was  Terminus?     What  was  hj's  office?     His  image?     18.  Who  was  Nemesis ? 
What  of  her  statue? 
XXIX  —1.  Who  was  Chaos?    What  do  (.he  poets  suppose  of  Chaos?    What  of  the 


SATURN.  75 

dominion  to  his  brother  Saturn,  who  thus  became  the  king  of  heaven 
and  earth.     Saturn  married  his  sister  Ops,  otherwise  called  Rhea. 


Saturn. 

4.  The  reign  of  Saturn  was  called  the  golden  age.  The  earta 
produced  subsistence  for  its  inhabitants  without  culture  ;  war  was  un- 
known. All  things  were  in  common,  and  Astrea,  the  goddess  of 
justice,  ruled  over  the  actions  of  men. 

5.  But  Saturn  had  received  his  kingdom  from  Titan  upon  one  con- 
dition. He  had  made  a  solemn  promise  to  devour  all  his  male  chil- 
dren. His  wife,  Ops,  hid  one  of  these  children,  and  brought  him  up 
unknown  to  Saturn.  This  child  was  Jupiter.  Titan  therefore  made 
war  upon  Saturn.  He  was  assisted  by  his  half-brothers,  the  gigantic 
Titans. 

6.  Each  of  these  Titans  had  fifty  heads,  and  a  hundred  hands. 
They  deprived  Saturn  of  his  kingdom  and  liberty.  Jupiter  then 
arose,  and  assembled  the  modern  gods  on  Mount  Olympus.  The 
Titans  collected  their  forces  on  Othrys,  an  opposite  mountain,  and  the 
war  of  the  gods  began. 

7.  This  war  lasted  for  ten  years,  when  Jupiter  called  the  Cyclops 
to  his  assistance,  together  with  some  mighty  giants,  who  owed  to 
him  their  deliverance  from  confinement.  These  joined  him  in  battle. 
And  now  Olympus  was  shaken  to  its  foundation.  The  sea  rose,  the 
earth  groaned,  and  the  mighty  forests  trembled. 

8.  The  thunderbolts  were  hurled  from  the  mighty  hand  of  Jupiter. 

account  given  by  Moses?    3.  Who  was  Terra  ?    What  of  Titan  ?    Saturn?    4.  What  of 
the  reig    of  Sa'.urn  ?    5.  What  was  the  condition  upon  which  Saturn  received  his  kin* 


76  NYMPHS   SATYRS,  ETC. 

The  lightnings  flashed  and  the  woods  blazed.     The  giants,  in  return 
threw  massy  oaks  at  the  heavens,  piled  the  mountains  upon  each 
other,  and  hurled  them  at  the  Thunderer.     Jupiter  was  victorious, 
and  released  his  parents  from  captivity. 

9.  But  Saturn  was  afterwards  deposed  by  Jupiter,  and  took  refuge 
in  Italy.  He  was  highly  honored  there,  and  became  King  of  Laffum, 
a  part  of  Italy,  which  lies  along  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  He  taught 
his  subjects  agriculture  and  other  useful  arts. 

10.  Saturn  was  represented  as  an  old  man  bent  with  age  and  infir- 
mity, and  was  deemed  the  god  of  time.  He  held  a  scythe  in  his  right 
hand,  and  in  his  left  a  child,  which  he  was  about  to  devour.  By  his 
side  was  a  serpent  biting  its  own  tail,  which  is  an  emblem  of  time, 
and  of  the  revolution  of  the  year. 

11.  When  Saturn  was  expelled  from  his  throne,  the  ancient  gods 
were  nearly  forgotten ;  they  seemed  to  retreat  behind  mysterious 
clouds  and  mist.  Jupiter  became  the  first  of  the  gods,  and  the  father 
and  king  of  heaven. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

Nymphs,  Satyrs,  etc, 

1.  The  imagination  of  the  ancients  filled  all  nature  with  an  invisible 
and  poetic  creation.  To  them,  the  dark  grove,  the  shady  valley,  the 
cool  rivulet,  and  every  solitary  scene,  appeared  the  haunt  of  these  half 
divine  beings,  whose  existence  formed  a  mysterious  link  between  gods 
and  men ;  more  beautiful  than  mortals,  less  sacred  than  the  gods. 

2.  In  the  deep  gloom  of  the  forests,  the  Dryads  dwelt,  while  the 
Hamadryad  lived  in  the  oak,  with  which  she  was  born,  and  with 
which  she  died.  The  Oread  roamed  over  the  mountains,  in  pursuit 
of  the  swift  stag,  or  the  young  Naiad  leaned  upon  her  urn,  bending 
over  the  cool  fountain  which  reflected  her  divine  image. 

3.  When  the  shepherd  wandered  through  the  shady  groves  of 
Arcadia,  his  imagination  represented  these  airy  beings  around  him. 
He  heard  their  soft  voices  whispering  through  the  leaves  ;  or  if,  faint- 
ing from  the  heat  of  the  noonday  sun,  a  spot  more  peculiarly  favored 
by  nature  met  his  view,  —  a  cluster  of  shady  trees,  or  a  clear  brook, 
whose  bubbling  waters  sparkled  over  the  flowery  turf,  a  mysterious 
charm  seemed  to  invest  the  solitary  scene  ;  and  fancy  pictured  the 
white  feet  of  the  retreating  nymphs,  glancing  through  the  dark 
foliage. 

4.  When  the  huntsman,  in  the  keen  excitement  of  the  chase,  fol- 
lowed the  deer  over  the  lonely  mountains,  and  the  shades  of  night 
began  to  veil  the  surrounding  objects,  the  fleet  Oread,  with  bow  and 

dom?     What  of  Jupiter?    6.  Who  were  the  Titans  ?    7,  8.  Describe  the  battle  with  the 
Titana.     9.  What  became  of  Saturn  ?     10.  How  was  Saturn  represented? 

XXX. —  1.  What  of  the  imagination  of  the  ancients?  2.  What  beings  were  sup- 
posed to  live  in  the  fcresta?    In  the  mountains?    In  the  fountains?    3.  Describe  the 


THE  MUSES,  GRACES,  AND  SIRENS.  77 

•quiver,  bounded  past  him.     He  saw  her,'  with  step  more  than  mortal, 
spring  down  the  deep  descent,  and  join  the  train  of  the  huntress  queen. 

5.  Then  beside  the  lonely  rock,  in  the  dark  and  mystic  recess,  the 
ear  was  startled  by  the  discordant  laugh  of  the  half-human  Satyr  or 
the  mocking  Faun.  The  credulous  peasant,  as  he  fled  affrighted  from 
the  sound,  believed  that  he  beheld  a  band  of  these  grotesque  creatures 
dancing  under  the  spreading  oak,  with  their  features  expressive  of 
mockery,  and  their  human  shape  disfigured  by  the  horns  and  feet  of 
a  goat,  forming  the  link  which  connected  the  brute  creation  with  the 
human  family. 

6.  Every  river,  grove,  and  valley,  was  animate  with  life.  The 
silent  shores  of  the  sea  were  peopled  by  the  green-haired  Nereides. 
In  grottos  and  rocky  caves,  where  bright  spars  and  colored  shells 
were  arranged  in  fantastic  variety,  these  sea-nymphs  were  accustomed 
to  dwell.  Altars  smoked  in  their  honor,  along  the  sea-coast,  and 
offerings  of  milk,  oil,  and  honey,  were  laid  there  by  the  mariner,  who 
came  to  implore  their  favor  and  protection. 

?.  At  night,  their  light  forms  glided  along  the  shore,  with  coral 
and  pearls  glittering  in  their  long  tresses.  But  when  Triton  blew  a 
blast  upon  his  silver  sounding  shell,  they  plunged  into  the  blue  waters, 
and  dived  into  the  deep  to  attend  the  car  of  Amphitrite. 

At  eventide,  when  the  shore  is  dim, 
And  bubbling  wreaths  with  the  billows  swim, 
They  rise  on  the  wing  of  the  freshened  breeze, 
And  flit  with  the  wind  o'er  the  rolling  seas. 

8.  While  the  enlightened  mind  rejects  these  fantastic  superstitions, 
it  cannot  but  allow  that  the  credulous  worshipper  of  the  heathen  gods, 
to  whom  all  nature  seemed  replete  with  divine  beings,  was  superior 
to  the  modern  unbeliever,  who  can  behold  the  wonders  of  the  universe 
with  an  unmoved  eye ;  who  can  view  the  sun  sinking  on  the  bosom 
of  the  ocean  ;  the  blue  sky  spangled  with  stars  ;  all  that  creation  has 
of  the  beautiful  and  terrible,  without  tracing  that  sublimity  and  beauty 
to  a  divine  source  ;  without  feeling  that 

"  There  is  a  power  whose  care 
Teaches  thy  way  along  the  pathless  coast, 
The  desert  and  illimitable  air, 
Lone  wandering,  but  not  lost.'" 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  Muses,  Graces,  and  Sirens. 

1.  The  Muses  were  nine  sisters,  daughters  of  Jupiter  and  Mne- 
mosyne. Their  names  were  Calliope,  Clio,  Erato,  Euterpe,  Melpo 
mene,  Polyhymnia,  Terpsichore,  Thalia,  and  Urania. 

feelings  of  the  Arcadian  shepherd.     Of  the  huntsman.     5.  What  was  believed  of  the 
Fauns  and  Satyrs?    6,  7.  What  of  the  Nereides?    8.  What  may  be  said  of  the  worship- 
pers of  the  heathen  gods  ? 
XXXI.  —  1.  Who  were  the  Muses  ?    What  were  their  names  ?    2.  What  of  Calliope  1 

7* 


73 


THE  MUSES. 


2.    Calliope  presided  over  eloquence  and  heroic  poetry.     Clio  was 
the  muse  of  history.      Erato  was  the  muse  of  eloquence  or  lyric 


The  Muses. 

poetry.     Euterpe  presided  over  music.     Melpomene  was  the  muse  of 
tragedy ;  Polyhymnia,  of  singing  and  rhetoric. 


The  Muses. 

3.  Terpsichore  was  the  muse  of  dancing ;  Thalia,  of  pastoral  oi 
comic  poetry ;  Urania,  of  astronomy.  She  also  presided  over  hymns 
and  sacred  subjects. 

4.  The  principal  abodes  of  the  muses  were  the  celebrated  moun- 
tains, Parnassus,  Pindus,  and  Helicon.  On  the  descent  of  Parnassus, 
was  the  Castalian  spring.  The  fountain  of  Aganippe  was  on  Mount 
Helicon,  and  higher  up  on  the  same  mountain  was  the  inspiring  Hip- 
pocrene,  which  gushed  forth  from  under  the  hoof  of  the  winged  horse 
Pegasus. 

Clio?     Erato?      Euterpe?      Melpomene?      Polyhymnia?      3.  What  of  Terpsichore? 
^halia?    Urania?    4.  Where  were  the  abodes  of  the  muses ?    What  of  Agat  ippe  and 


THE  GRACES.  79 

5.  The  worship  of  the  muses  was  very  universal.  No  poet  evei 
commenced  his  lays  without  a  solemn  invocation  to  the  immortal  nine. 
Among  the  Thespians,  especially,  they  were  held  in  high  honor. 


The  Graces. 

6.  The  Graces  were  three  sisters,  daughters  of  Jupiter  and  Eury- 
norae,  a  sea-nymph.  They  were  called  Aglaia,  Thalia,  and  Euphro- 
syne.  In  Olympus  they  surrounded  the  throne  of  Jupiter.  They 
were  also  the  constant  attendants  of  Venus,  since  beauty  without 
grace  is  hut  a  dead  picture. 

7.  Temples  and  altars  were  erected  everywhere  to  their  honor. 
Their  dominion  was  acknowledged  both  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  They 
were  represented  as  young,  and  lightly  dressed,  their  hands  joined, 
and  in  a  dancing  attitude.  Sometimes  the  Hours,  or  the  children  of 
Jupiter  and  Themis,  mingled  with  them  in  chorus. 

8.  The  Sirens  were  three  sea-nymphs,  daughters  of  the  muse  Mel- 
pomene, and  the  river  Achelous.  They  had  the  faces  of  beautiful 
women,  but  the  bodies  of  flying  fishes.  They  dwelt  near  the  pro- 
nontory  Pelorus,  in  Sicily. 

9.  There,  with  the  sweetness  of  their  voices,  they  allured  all  who 
passed  by  these  coasts.  And  when,  by  their  melodious  music,  they 
had  charmed  their  listeners  into  a  deep  sleep,  they  took  them  from  the 
ship,  and  drowned  and  devoured  them. 

Hippocrene?  5.  What  of  the  worship  of  the  muses?  6.  Who  were  the  Graces  ?  What 
of  them?  7.  What  of  their  worship?  How  were  they  represented?  8.  Who  were  the 
Sirens?    9.  What  of  their  music? 


80 


THE  FURIES 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

Furies,  Fates,  Harpies,  Lares,  and  Ma?iet. 


The  Furies. 

1.  The  Furies  were  said  to  have  sprung  from  the  drops  of  blooc 
which  flowed  from  the  wound  given  by  Saturn  to  his  father  Ccelus 
They  were  three  in  number.  Their  names  were  Tisiphone,  Megaera, 
and  Alecto.  It  was  their  office  to  punish  the  guilty  both  in  the  infer- 
nal regions  and  upon  earth. 

2.  The  earthly  criminal  was  afflicted  by  them  with  the  stings  of 
conscience.  In  hell,  their  punishment  was  constant  torture  and  flagel- 
lation. Their  worship  was  universal ;  but  no  one  dared  to  pronounce 
their  names,  or  to  look  upon  their  temple.  Turtle  doves  and  sheep, 
with  branches  of  cedar  and  hawthorn,  were  offered  to  them. 

3.  They  had  the  faces  of  women,  but  grim  and  terrible.  Their 
garments  were  black,  and  spotted  with  blood.  They  held  lighted 
torches,  daggers,  and  whips  of  scorpions.  Snakes  wreathed  and 
twined  round  their  heads,  and  lashed  their  necks  and  shoulders : 

With  serpents  girt  alike,  and  crowned  with  hissing  hair. 


XXXII. —  1.  Who  were  the  Furies  ?    What  were  their  names?      What  was  their 
office?    2.  What  of  the  punishment  inflicted  by  them?      What  of  their  worship  1 


THE  FATES,  OR  FARCLE. 


81 


4.  As  the  three  Furies  punished  the  guilty,  so  the  three  Fates 
sternly  pronounced  their  sentence.  Their  names  were  Clotho,  Lache- 
sis,  and  Atropos.  They  were  the  daughters  of  Nox  and  Erebus,  and 
their  power  was  very  great.  To  them  was  entrusted  the  management 
of  the  fatal  thread  of  life. 


The  Fates,  or  Parca. 

5.  Clotho  drew  the  thread  between  her  fingers  ;  Lachesis  turneo 
the  wheel ;  and  Atropos  cut  the  spun  thread  with  a  pair  of  scissors. 
Tb/^.r  decrees  were  unalterable.  They  are  generally  described  as 
three  old  women,  dressed  in  robes  of  white  ermine,  bordered  with 
purple.  They  wore  chaplets  made  of  wooi,  and  interwoven  with  the 
flowers  of  the  narcissus. 

6.  The  Harpies  were  three  voracious  monsters,  with  the  faces  of 
women,  the  bodies  of  vultures,  and  the  claws  of  dragons. 

At  length  I  land  upon  the  Strophades  ; 
Safe  from  the  danger  of  the  stormy  seas  : 
Those  isles  are  compassed  by  th'  Ionian  main  ; 
The  dire  abode  where  the  foul  Harpies  reign : 
Where  from  the  mountain  tops,  with  hideous  cry, 
And  clattering  wings,  the  hungry  Harpies  fly : 
They  snatch  the  meat ;  defiling  all  they  find  ; 
And  parting  leave  a  loathsome  stanch  behind. 

7.  To  them  we  may  add  the  three  Gorgons,  who  were  very  beauti- 


3.  How  were  they  represented?    4.  What  was  the  duty  of  the  Fates  ?    What  were  their 
a&tnes?    5.  What  were  their  severa.  cffices ?    What  of  their  decrees?    How  wer    th« 

6 


82  DEMI-GODS  AND  HEROES.  —  HERCULES 

ful,  but  whose  heads  were  covered  with  vipers  instead  of  hair.     Who- 
ever beheld  them  was  struck  with  terror,  and  changed  into  stone. 

8.  Another  class  of  divinities  were  the  Lares,  or  Penates,  house- 
hold gods,  who  presided  over  hospitality.  The  hearth  was  then 
altar,  and  was  considered  a  sanctuary  for  strangers. 

9.  The  Manes  were  infernal  deities  who  presided  over  sepulchral 
monuments.  Sometimes,  by  Manes,  the  souls  of  the  departed  only  are 
signified. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

Demi-gods  and  Heroes. 

1.  Among  the  ancients,  when  any  person,  by  his  superior  knowl- 
edge, beneficence,  or  valor,  raised  himself  above  the  age  in  which  he 
lived,  and  the  persons  by  whom  he  was  surrounded,  his  actions  were 
frequently  magnified,  by  the  credulity  of  the  vulgar,  into  deeds  wor- 
thy of  the  gods  themselves.  After  the  death  of  these  distinguished 
persons,  flattery  and  superstition  led  the  people  to  offer  them  divine 
honor.    Some  were  worshipped  as  heroes ;  others  were  adored  as  gods. 


Hercules. 
2.   Truth  and  falsehood  became  so  blended  together  in  their  history, 

F«.tes  described  ?    6.  Who  were  the  Harpies  ?    7.  What  of  the  Gorgons  7    8.  Who  were 
*he  Lares  ?    9.  The  Manes  ? 
XXXI II.  —  1    What  of  the  superstition  of  the  ancients?    2.  What  of  the  history  of 


HERCULES 


83 


as  to  ender  it  impossible  to  draw  any  distinct  line  between  them 
Viewed  through  the  mist  of  ages,  the  heroes  of  antiquity  are  con- 
sidered as  beings  of  a  higher  order,  who,  though  born  on  this  eanh, 
by  their  deeds  and  their  fame  have  risen  to  the  skies. 


Jason. 

3.   Hercules,  who  stands  at  the  head  of  the  deified  heroes  of  Greece, 
has  been  already  noticed ;  but  we  may  here  briefly  sketch  his  life.    He 


Theseus. 


was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Alcmena,  Queen  of  Thebes,    in  his  infancy, 
he  strangled  two  serpents,  sent  by  the  jealous  J  uno  to  destroy  him. 

tntiquity?    3.  Who  was  Hercules?    What  did  he  do  in  his  infancy?    4.  What  of  hi» 


84 


THE  CENTAURS. 


4.  Armed  by  Minerva,  Apollo,  and  Vulcan,  he  went  forth  and  per- 
formed the  arduous  labors  which  have  placed  his  name  among  the 
immortals.  He  was  represented  as  a  strong  man,  with  the  hide  of 
the  Nemean  lion  over  his  skin.  In  his  hand  he  held  a  rough  and 
knotted  club. 

5.  The  chief  exploits  of  Jason  and  Theseus  have  been  detailed. 
We  must  not  omit  to  mention  the  Centaurs,  a  people  half  man,  half 
horse,  supposed  to  live  in  Thessaly.  Although  of  a  savage  character 
in  general,  one  of  them,  named  Chiron,  possessed  great  accomplish- 
ments. He  was  visited  by  the  Argonauts,  in  their  expedition,  and 
the  scene  is  thus  described  by  one  of  the  poets : 

We  entered  straight  a  spot  of  gloomy  twilight  shade  ; 

There  on  a  lonely  couch  the  Centaur  huge  was  laid  ; 

At  length  unmeasured,  stretched,  his  rapid  legs  were  thrown, 

And  shod  with  horny  hoofs  reclined  upon  the  stone. 

The  boy  Achilles  stood  erect  beside  the  sire, 

And  swept  with  pliant  hand  the  spirit-soothing  lyre. 

But  when  the  Centaur  saw  the  noble  kings  appear, 

He  rose  and  kissed  and  brought  them  dainty  cheer: 

Th3  wine  in  beakers  served  ;  the  branchy  couches  spread 

With  scattered  leaves,  and  placed  each  guest  upon  his  b*>d 


Centaur. 


6.   The  idea  that  Achilles  was  instructed  in  music  by  Chiron,  seems 
to  be  extensively  entertained,  for  in  one  of  the  houses  of  Hercula- 


tobors?     How  was  he  represented?     5.  What  of  the  Centaurs?     What  of  Chiron? 
describe  the  visit  ?f  the  Argonauts.     6.  What  is  said  of  the  idea  that  Achilles  waa 


CASTOR  AND  POLLUX. 


85 


neum,  a  picture  was  discovered,  representing  the  Centaur  giving  him 
lessons  on  the  harp. 


Achilles  and  Chiron. 

7.  The  Centaurs  did  not  all  possess  the  gentlemanly  breeding  ot 
Ch ron,  and  it  is  recorded,  among  the  celebrated  poets  of  Theseus,  that 
he  overcame  them  in  a  fierce  encounter. 


Castor  and  Pollux. 


8.   Castor  and  Pollux  were  twin  brothers,  and  sons  of  Jupiter  and 
Lola.     Castor  was  very  skilful  in  riding  and  managing  horses,  and 

Instructed  in  music  by  Chiron?    7.  Were  all  the  Centaurs  equal  to  Chiron       8.   What 
of  Castor  and  Pollux?     What  of  the  expedition  to  Colchis?     9.   How  did   thej 
8 


86 


PERSEUS 


Pollux  in  wrestling.  These  two  brothers  accompanied  the  Argonauts 
on  their  expedition  to  Colchis.  During  the  voyage  a  dreadful  tempest 
arose,  when  two  flames  were  seen  to  play  round  the  heads  of  Castor 
and  Pollux,  and  immediately  the  storm  abated. 

9.  Jupiter  permitted  them  to  enjoy  immortality  by  turns.  Thus 
they  alternately  lived  and  died  every  six  months.  They  were  drawn 
as  two  youths  riding  side  by  side,  upon  white  horses,  armed  with 
spears,  and  a  glittering  star  upon  their  heads. 

10.  Perseus  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Danae,  who  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  Acrisius,  King  of  Argos.  lie  received  from  Mercury  a  pair 
of  wings  and  a  diamond  dagger.  Pluto  gave  him  a  helmet  which 
had  the  power  of  rendering  the  wearer  invisible  ;  and  Minerva  a  shield 
of  brass,  which  reflected  images  like  a  looking-glass.  He  cut  off  the 
head  of  the  Gorgon  Medusa,  and,  as  he  carried  it  over  the  sandy 
deserts  of  Libya,  the  drops  of  blood  that  fell  from  it  produced  the  in- 
numerable serpents  which  have  ever  since  infested  that  country. 

11.  Being  inhospitably  received  on  his  journey  by  Atlas,  King  of 
Mauritania,  he  showed  him  the  Gorgon's  head,  which  changed  all 
who  looked  on  it  into  stone.  Atlas  instantly  became  the  mouinaiu, 
wfc«ch  still  bears  bis  name  in  the  northern  part  of  Africa. 


Perseus. 

12.   On  the  coast  of  Ethiopia,  he  beheld  the  beautiful  Andromeda 
thained   to   a  rock,  and   a  sea-monster  going  to  devour  her.     lie 


enjoy  immortality?    How  were  they  represented  ?    10.  Who  was  Perseus  ?    What  dUi 
be  receive  from  Mercury,  Pluto,  and  Minerva?    What  ia  the  cause  of  the  serpents  in 


ESCULAPIUS. 


87 


»nowed  the  head  of  Medusa,  to  the  monster,  who  became  a  stone.    He 
then  unloosed  Andromeda,  and  married  her. 

13.  The  winged  horse  Pegasus  sprang  from  the  blood  of  Medusa's 
head  when  Perseus  cut  it  off.  This  horse  flew  to  Helicon,  where  it 
became  the  favorite  of  the  Muses. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Esculapius,  etc. 

1.  Esculapius  was  the  son  of  Apollo  and  the  nymph  Ceronis. 
He  was  a  physician  to  the  Argonauts,  and  after  his  death  was  wor- 
shipped as  the  god  of  medicine.  His  instructor  was  Chiron,  the  Cen- 
taur. He  restored  so  many  to  life  by  his  knowledge  of  the  medicinal 
properties  of  herbs,  that  Pluto  complained  of  it  to  Jupiter. 

2.  Jupiter  struck  Esculapius  with  thunder,  and  Apollo  revenged 
the  death  of  his  son  by  killing  the  Cyclops,  who  foiged  the  thunder- 


Esculapius. 


Hygeia. 


bolts.     lie  was  drawn  as  an  old  man  with  a  long  beard  and  a 
crown,  and  leaning  upon  his  cane. 


laurel 


Libya  ?     II.  What  of  Atlas  and  the  Gorgon's  head  ?  '•  12.  How  did  I  erseus  rescue  Andro 
meda?     13.  What  of  the  winged  horse  Pegasus? 

XXXTV.  —  1.   Who  was  Esculapius  ?    What  may  be  said  of  him  ?    How  did  he  offend 
Pluto  ?    2   How  was  Esculapius  killed  «    How  did  Apollo  revenge  his  death  ?    How  was 


S8 


PROMETHEUS.  -  ORPHEUS. 


3.  Esculapius  was  the  father  of  Hygeia,  who  was  worshipped  as 
the  goddess  of  health,  but  by  most  authors  is  considered  the  same  as 
Minerva. 


4.  Prometheus  was  the  son  of  Iapetus  and  a  sea-nymph.  He  climbed 
the  heavens  by  the  assistance  of  Minerva,  and  stole  celestial  fire  from 
the  wheel  of  the  sun's  chariot.  He  then  formed  a  man  of  clay,  and 
gave  him  life  by  means  of  this  fire.  To  punish  Prometheus  for  his 
presumption,  Jupiter  commanded  Mercury  to  chain  him  to  Mount 
Caucasus,  and  sent  a  vulture,  which  continually  gnawed  his  liver. 

5.  Prometheus  was  the  father  of  Deucalion,  King  of  Thessaly,  in 
whose  reign  the  whole  earth  was  overwhelmed  by  a  deluge.  The 
impiety  of  mankind  provoked  Jupiter  to  destroy  them.  No  one  was 
saved  but  Deucalion  and  his  wife  Pyrrha,  by  means  of  a  vessel  which 
Prometheus  advised  his  son  to  build. 

6.  Atlas  was  the  brother  of  Prometheus,  and  King  of  Mauritania. 
He  was  changed  by  Perseus  into  the  mountain  of  that  name  in  Africa, 
which  is  so  lofty  that  it  was  supposed  to  touch  the  heavens. 

7.  Orpheus  was  the  son  of  Apollo  and  the  Muse  Calliope.  He 
played  so  sweetly  on  his  father's  lyre,  that  he  tamed  the  wild  beasts 
of  the  forests,  and  stayed  the  course  of  the  rivers.  Even  the  lofty 
trees  bent  to  listen  to  his  music.  His  wife  Eurydice,  whom  he  ten- 
derly loved,  was  bit  by  a  serpent  that  was  lurking  in  the  grass,  and 
died  of  the  wound. 

8.  Orpheus,  disconsolate  for  her  loss,  descended  to  the  gloomy 
abode  of  Pluto,  and  resolved  to  obtain  her  or  die.  At  the  sound  of 
his  divine  lyre,  the  wheel  of  Ixion  stopped,  and  the  stone  of  Sisyphus 
stood  still ;  Tantalus  forgot  his  thirst,  and  even  the  Furies  relented. 

Ae  represented  ?  3.  Who  was  Hygeia?  4.  Who  was  Prometheus  ?  How  did  he  offenu 
Jupiter?  How  was  he  punished?  5.  Who  was  Deucalion?  What  of  the  deluge? 
6.  Who  was  Atlas?  Into  what  was  he  changed?  7.  Who  was  Orpheus ?  What  effec 
Oad  hi?  music  ?  What  of  Eurydice  ?  8.  How  did  Orpheus  attempt  to  regain  her  ?  9.  Upon 


ORPHEUS.  —  AMPHION 


8? 


9.  Proserpine  was  moved  by  his  sorrow,  and  the  grim  King  of  lit  11 
forgot  his  sternness,  and  consented  to  restore  Eurydice,  provided  he 
forbore  to  look  back  at  her  until  he  had  reached  the  light  of  day 
Orpheus  joyfully  consented  to  this  condition,  but  just  as  the  upper 
regions  of  the  air  appeared  in  sight,  he  turned  back  to  look  at  his  long 
lost  Eurydice,  and  she  vanished  from  his  eyes.  , 


^itfas. 


Orpheus. 


10.  After  this,  Orpheus  fled  forever  from  mankind.  His  lyre  was 
silent.  The  Thracian  women,  enraged  because  he  avoided  their 
society,  attacked  and  killed  him,  during  the  feast  of  Bacchus.  They 
threw  his  head  into  the  Hebrus,  and  as  it  was  carried  down  into  the 
^Egean  sea,  it  was  heard  to  murmur  the  name  of  Eurydice. 

11.  Amphion  was  another  celebrated  musician,  son  of  Jupiter  and 
Antiope.  He  raised  the  walls  of  Thebes  by  the  music  of  his  lute, 
which  he  received  from  Mercury. 

12.  The  fable  of  his  moving  stones  and  raising  the  massy  walls  of 
Thebes  by  the  music  of  his  lyre,  has  been  explained  to  mean  that  by 
the  convincing  power  of  his  eloquence,  he  constrained  a  wild  and 
uncivilized  people  to  build  a  defence,  and  protect  themselves  from 
their  enemies. 

what  condition  did  Pluto  consent  to  restore  her?     Did  Orpheus  succeed  in  rescuing  her? 
10.  What  became  of  Orpheus  ?     11.  Who  was  Amphion  ?    What  fabls  is»  there  about  th« 
power  of  his  lute  7     12.  How  has  this  fable  been  explained  ? 
8* 


90  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  GRECIAN  MYTHOLOGY. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

General  View  of  Grecian  Mythology. 

I  I.  From  the  sketch  we  have  given,  it  is  obvious  that  the  live  y 
imagination  of  the  Greeks  had  peopled  the  air,  and  the  earth  and  the 
Bea,°with  a  variety  of  beings  endowed  with  more  than  mortal  power. 
Every  object  in  nature,  every  human  quality  of  thought  or  emotion, 
had  its  representative  in  the  long  list  of  celestial  personages. 

2.  Not  only  the  extraordinary  but  the  common  incidents  of  life 
were  explained  by  the  interference  of  the  gods.  The  thunder  was  the 
voice  of  Jupiter,  and  the  lightning  his  spear.  The  breeze  of  summer 
was  the  impulse  given  by  the  wing  of  Zephyr,  and  the  echo  of  the 
forest  was  the  voice  of  a  goddess.  The  affection  of  lovers  was  decreed 
by  Venus,  and  the  anxiety  of  the  enamored  bosom  was  the  smart  in- 
flicted by  Cupid's  arrow. 

3.  In  battle,  Mars  led  the  way,  while  the  several  gods  took  part  in 
the  strife,  furnishing  their  favorites  with  charmed  arms,  and  endow- 
ing them  with  supernatural  skill  and  power.  On  the  sea,  Neptune 
was  supposed  to  be  a  vigilant  observer  of  events,  and  when  the  billows 
raged,  it  was  imagined  to  be  a  manifestation  of  his  fury. 

4.  If  the  winds  arose,  iEolus  was  the  author  of  the  blast ;  if  a  cloud 
sailed  through  the  sky,  it  was  the  chariot  of  Jupiter.  The  morning 
was  introduced  by  the  rosy-fingered  Aurora ;  the  rainbow  indicated 
the  presence  of  Iris.  All  earth  was  a  kind  of  heaven,  and  heaven  was 
upon  earth. 

5.  Thus  the  Greek  mythology  was  a  religion  formed  upon  imag- 
ination. It  was  a  beautiful,  though  in  some  respects  a  fearful  dream, 
where  there  was  much  meaning  and  connection.  In  it  allegory  and 
true  history  were  mixed  and  blended  together  ;  and  although  it  was 
neither  founded  upon  reason  nor  revelation,  yet  it  shadowed  forth  sub- 
lime truths  in  dark  and  mysterious  images. 

6.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  physical  was  much  morft 
prominent  than  the  moral,  in  the  divinities  shaped  out  by  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  Greeks.  Their  gods,  represented  as  mingling  in  the  affairs 
of  mortals,  frequently  lent  their  superior  power  and  intelligence  to  the 
promotion  of  schemes  of  vice  and  villany.  They  were  animated  by 
envy,  malice,  and  all  the  evil  passions  to  which  men  are  subject,  and 
they  did  not  hesitate  to  adopt  any  measures,  however  base,  to  gratify 
their  nefarious  purposes.  Even  Jupiter,  the  King  of  Heaven,  is  de- 
scribed as  acting  a  very  profligate  part  on  earth. 

7.  Yet,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  most  of  the  Greeks  appear  to  have 
been  impressed  with  sincere  religious  feelings.  The  stories  of  their  gods 
had  come  down  to  them  with  the  authority  of  antiquity,  and  habit  made 
them  bow  to  beings  whose  characters  their  reason  could  not  approve. 

XXXV.  —  1.  What  of  the  imagination  of  the  Greeks?  2.  What  was  thought  by  the 
Greeks  of  the  common  incidents  of  life?  What  of  the  thunder?  The  lightning?  The 
summer  breeze?  The  echo?  What  of  lovers?  3.  What  of  the  gods  during  war? 
What  of  Neptune  ?  4.  What  of  ^Eolus?  Aurora?  Iris?  5.  What  may  be  said  of  the 
mythology  of  the  Greeks?  6.  How  were  the  gods  frequently  represented?  How  were 
they  animated  ?    What  of  Jupiter  ?    7.  How  do  the  Greeks  seem  to  have  been  impressed  t 


FUTURE  STATE.  — REWARDS  AND  PUNISHMENTS.  9] 

8.  It  seems  impossible,  however,  that  the  sages,  philosophers,  and 
other  persons  of  cultivated  intellect,  who  flourished  in  Greece,  could 
have  reposed  faith  in  the  tissue  of  gross  and  extravagant  fables  of 
which  this  mythology  was  composed,  and,  in  reality,  it  is  known  that 
Socrates  and  others  of  the  wisest  men  of  antiquity  rejected  the  popu- 
lar belief,  and,  observing  the  unity  of  design  which  is  apparent  in  all 
the  works  of  nature,  rightly  concluded  that  the  whale  universe  must 
have  been  created  by  one  omnipotent  and  omniscient  God,  the  sover- 
eign and  ruler  of  all. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Future  State, — Rewards  and  Punishments. 

1.  The  Greeks  believed  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  a  future 
state  of  rewards  and  punishments.  They  imagined,  that,  after  death, 
the  souls  of  men  descended  to  the  shores  of  a  dismal  and  pestilential 
stream,  called  the  Styx,  where  Charon,  a  grim-looking  personage, 
acted  as  ferryman,  and  rowed  the  spirits  of  the  dead  across  the  melan- 
choly river,  the  boundary  of  the  dominions  of  Pluto. 

2.  To  obtain  a  passage  in  Charon's  boat,  it  was  necessary  that  the 
deceased  should  have  been  buried.  Those  who  were  drowned  at  sea, 
or  who  were  in  any  other  manner  deprived  of  the  customary  rites  of 
sepulture,  were  compelled  to  wander  about  on  the  banks  of  the  Styx 
for  a  hundred  years,  before  being  permitted  to  cross  it. 


Charon. 

3.  After  quitting  the  vessel  of  Charon,  the  trembling  shades 
advanced  to  the  palace  of  Pluto,  the  gate  of  which  was  guarded  by  a 
monstrous  dog,  named  Cerberus,  which  had  three  heads,  and  a  bod.K 

How  had  the  stories  of  their  gods  come  down  to  them  ?    8.  What  of  the  sages  and  phi- 
losophers ?    What  of  Socrates  ? 

XXXVT.  —  1.  In  what  did  the  Greeks  believe  ?  What  did  they  imagine  would  happen 
tfter  death  1    Who  was  Charon  ?    What  of  him  ?    2.  What  was  necessary  in  order  to 


92 


FUTURE  STATE.  — REWARDS  AND  PUNISHMENTS. 


covered  with  snakes  instead  of  hair.  They  then  appeared  before 
Minos,  Rhadamanthus,  and  Acanthus,  the  three  judges  of  the  infernal 
regions,  by  whom  the  wicked  were  condemned  to  torments,  and  the 
good  rewarded  with  heavenly  pleasures. 

4.  Tartarus,  the  place  of  punishment,  was  the  abode  of  darkness 
and  horror.  There  Tantalus,  for  a  vile  crime  done  in  life,  remained 
perpetually  surrounded  with  water,  which  fled  from  his  lips  whenever 
he  attempted  to  quench  his  burning  thirst,  while  over  his  head  hung 
branches  laden  with  the  most  inviting  fruits,  which  shrunk  from  his 
grasp  as  often  as  he  stretched  out  his  hand  to  pluck  them. 


Sisyphus,  Izion,  and  Tantalus. 

5.  There  also  was  Ixion,  bound  with  serpents  to  the  rim  of  a  wheel, 
which,  constantly  revolving,  allowed  no  cessation  of  his  agoniee. 
Another  variety  of  punishment  was  allotted  to  Sisyphus,  who  was 
condemned  to  the  endless  task  of  rolling  a  huge  stone  up  the  side  of 
a  steep  mountain,  which  he  had  no  sooner  accomplished  than  it  rolled 
down  again  to  its  former  place.  On  one  side  criminals  were  writhing 
under  the  merciless  lash  of  the  avenging  Furies,  and  on  another  were 
to  be  seen  wretches  surrounded  with  unquenchable  flames. 

6.  Elysium,  the  abode  of  the  blessed,  was  a  region  of  surpassing 
loveliness  and  pleasure.  Groves  of  the  richest  verdure,  and  streams 
of  silvery  clearness,  were  to  be  met  with  on  every  side.  The  air  was 
pure,  serene,  and  temperate  ;  the  birds  continually  warbled  in  the 
woods,  and  a  brighter  light  than  that  of  the  sun  was  diffused  through- 
out that  happy  land.  No  cares  nor  sorrow  could  disturb  its  inhabi- 
tants, who  spent  their  time  in  the  enjoyment  of  those  pleasures  they 
had  loved  on  earth,  or  in  admiring  the  wisdom  and  power  of  the  gods. 

obtain  a  passage  in  his  boat?  What  became  of  those  who  were  drowned?  3.  Wha4 
happened  after  havine  crossing  the  Styx?  What  of  Cerberus ?  Minos,  Rhadamanthus 
and  Acanthus?  4.  What  was  Tartarus  ?  What  of  Tantalus?  5.  What  was  the  punish- 
ment of  Ixion  ?  Of  Sisyphus  ?  What  of  the  Furies  ?  6.  What  of  Elysium  ?  What  o. 
»he  groves?    The  air?    The  enjoyments  of  the  Messed?  . 


h 


EELIGIOUS  RITES.  —  TEMPLES.  —  PRIESTS. 


93 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 


Religious  Rites.  —  Temples.  —  Priests. 


Offering  sacrifice  at  a  Temple. 

1  The  Greeks  were  preeminently  an  imaginative  people,  and, 
accordingly,  both  their  mythology  and  their  religious  rites  were 
calculated  rather  to  amuse  the  fancy  than  to  interest  the  feelings  or 
improve  the  heart.     Their  public  worship  was  altogether  ceremonial. 

2.  In  magnificent  temples  they  invoked  and  offered  sacrifices  to 
the  gods.  Animals,  and  in  some  cases  children  and  captives,  were 
offered  upon  their  altars.  The  solemn  festivals  of  their  religion  con- 
sisted of  pompons  processions,  public  games,  dramatic  entertainments, 
feasting,  and  masquerading.  To  these  were  added,  in  the  worship 
of  Bacchus,  drunkenness,  indecency,  uproar,  and  every  species  of 
licentiousness. 

3.  The  temples  were  erected,  some  in  valleys,  some  in  woods,  and 
others  by  the  brink  of  a  river  or  fountain,  according  to  the  deity  who 
was  destined  to  inhabit  them  ;  for  the  ancients  ascribed  the  manage- 
ment of  every  particular  affair  to  some  particular  god,  and  appropriated 
to  each  a  peculiar  form  of  building,  according  to  his  or  her  peculiar 
character  and  attributes. 

4.  But  when  temples  were  first  erected,  the  ancients  still  continued 
to  worship  their  gods  without  any  statue  or  visible  representation  of 
the  divinity.  It  is  supposed  that  the  worship  of  idols  was  introduced 
among  the  Greeks  in  the  time  of  Cecrops,  the  founder  of  Athens,  in 
the  year  1556  B.  C. 

5.  At  first  these  idols  were  formed  of  rude  blocks  of  wood  or  stone, 
until,  when  the  art  of  graving  or  carving  was  invented,  these  rough 
masses  were  changed  into  figures  resembling  living  creatures.  After- 
wards, marble  and  ivory,  or  precious  stones,  were  used  in  their  forma- 
tion, and  lastly,  gold,  silver,  brass,  and  other  metals.     At  length,  in 

KXXVII.  —  1.  What  is  tne  mythology  of  the  Greeks  calculated  to  do  t  2.  What  of 
their  worship  and  festivals?  What  of  the  worship  of  Buechus?  3.  The  temples  1 
4.   What  of  the  first  worship  of  the  idols  ?    5.  What  of  the  workmanship  ot  these  idola) 


94  E ELIGIOUS  RITES  —  TEMPLES.  —  PRIESTS. 

the  refined  ages  of  Greece,  all  the  genius  of  the  sculptor  was  employed 
in  the  creation  of  these  exquisite  statues,  which  no  modern  workman- 
ship has  yet  surpassed. 

6.  The  altars  were  commonly  lower  than  the  statues  of  the  gods  ; 
they  were  heaps  of  earth,  ashes,  or  stone,  arranged  in  a  square  or 
oblong  form.  Some  were  made  of  horn  or  brick  ;  while  othe/s,  for 
greater  beauty  or  splendor,  were  overlaid  with  gold.  Some  were 
intended  for  sacrifices  made  with  fire  ;  upon  others,  animals  were 
offered,  to  appease  or  propitiate  the  divinity  ;  while  upon  some,  only 
sakes,  fruits,  or  inanimate  things,  could  lawfully  be  placed. 

7.  Temples,  statues,  and  altars,  were  considered  sacred,  and  to 
many  of  them  was  granted  the  privilege  of  protecting  offenders 
The  Greek  poets  frequently  make  mention  of  this  practice.  Thus 
Euripides  observes  : 

The  wild  beast  is  protected  by  the  rocks, 
And  vile  slaves  by  the  altars  of  the  gods. 

8.  It  was  no  business  of  the  priests  to  inculcate  lessons  of  morality. 
The  divine  rule,  do  to  others  as  you  would  have  others  do  to  you, 
was  not.  yet  discovered.  The  only  doctrine  taught  by  the  priests  was, 
that  the  gods  demanded  slavish  adulation,  and  an  outward  show  of 
reverence  from  their  worshippers,  who  would  be  rewarded  with  the 
divine  favor  in  proportion  to  the  abundance  and  costliness  of  their 
offerings. 

9.  Besides  the  public  services  of  religion,  there  were  certain  secret 
rites,  performed  only  by  the  initiated,  in  honor  of  particular  divinities. 
The  most  remarkable  of  these  mystical  observances  were  the  feasts 
already  noticed,  celebrated  at  Eleusis,  in  Attica,  in  honor  of  the  god 
dess  Ceres.  They  were  called,  by  way  of  eminence,  the  Mysteries ; 
and  all  who  were  initiated  in  them  were  bound  by  the  most  solemn 
oaths  never  to  reveal  them. 

10.  The  Athenians  alone  were  admissible  to  the  Eleusinian  rites, 
and  they  were  very  careful  to  avail  themselves  of  their  peculiar  privi- 
lege, believing  that  those  who  died  without  initiation  would  be 
condemned  to  wallow  forever  in  mud  and  filth  in  the  infernal  regions. 

11.  The  penalty  of  death  was  denounced  against  all  who  should 
divulge  these  mysteries,  or  who  should  witness  them  without  being 
regularly  initiated ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  rigorous  manner  in 
which  this  law  was  enforced,  sufficient  disclosures  have  been  made 
concerning  them,  to  prove  that  they  consisted  principally  of  such 
mystical  ceremonies,  and  optical  delusions,  as  were  fitted  to  excite 
the  superstitious  veneration  and  dread  of  the  bewildered  votaries. 

12.  Processions,  gymnastic  contests,  music,  and  dancing,  consti- 
tuted an  indispensable  part  of  this  religious  festival,  as  weil  as  of 
others,  and  the  nocturnal  orgies  of  the  devotees  were  scarcely  less 
extravagant  and  immoral  than  those  of  the  Bacchanalians. 

6.  How  were  the  altars  constructed  ?  The  materials  of  which  they  were  made  ?  7.  What 
privilege  was  granted  to  temples?  8.  What  of  the  priests  ?  9.  What  may  be  said  of 
the  secret  rites  of  the  Greeks  ?  What  of  the  Eleusinian  Mysteries  ?  10.  How  did  the 
Athenians  regari  these  rites?  11.  What  penalty  was  attached  to  a  betrayal  of  these 
tectets?    What  ha  been  discovered  of  them?    12.  Of  what  did  they  principally  consist? 


ORaCLES 


35 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

Oracles. 


The  Pythoness  at  Delphi,  delivering  her  oracles 

1.  The  gods  were  supposed  to  communicate  with  men,  and  to 
reveal  the  secrets  of  futurity  by  means  of  oracles,  several  of  which 
existed  in  various  parts  of  Greece.  One  of  the  earliest,  and,  for  some 
time,  the  most  celebrated  of  these  was  that  of  Dodona,  in  Epirus. 

2.  Near  that  place  there  was  a  grove  of  oaks,  which,  according  to 
the  superstitious  belief  of  the  ancients,  chanted  the  message  of  Jupiter 
to  devout  inquirers.  Black  pigeons  were  also  said  to  frequent  this 
grove,  and  to  give  oracular  responses. 

3.  The  oracle  at  Dodona  is  believed  to  have  owed  its  origin  to  an 
artful  woman,  who  had  been  stolen  from  a  temple  of  Jupiter  in  Egypt, 
and  sold  as  a  slave  in  Epirus.  To  escape  from  the  evils  of  her 
degraded  condition,  she  resolved  to  work  upon  the  ignorance  and 
credulity  of  those  among  whom  she  had  been  brought,  and,  stationing 
herself  in  the  grove  of  oaks,  which  afterwards  became  so  famous,  she 
gave  out  that  she  was  inspired  by  Jupiter,  and  could  foretell  future 
events. 

4.  The  scheme  succeeded,  and  she  soon  acquired  great  repute  for 
her  skill  in  divination  ;  and,  after  her  death,  other  artful  persons  were 
not  backward  in  embracing  a  profession  which  was  rewarded  both 
with  profit  and  respect. 

XXXVIII.  —  1.  What  were  oracles?  Which  was  the  most  famous  ?  2.  What  super 
st  it  ion  was  there  in  regard  to  a  grove  of  oaks  ?  What  was  believed  of  black  pigeons  ? 
3    What  may  be  said  of  the  oracle  of  Dodona?    4.  How  did  the  scheme  sucoewi 1 


96  ORACLES 

5.  Bat  by  far  the  most  celebrated  of  the  Grecian  oracles  was  that 
ot  Apollo  at  Delphi,  a  city  built  on  the  slopes  of  Mount  Parnassus,  in 
Phocis.  At  a  very  remote  period  it  had  been  discovered,  that,  from 
a  deep  cavern  in  the  side  of  that  mountain,  an  intoxicating  vapor  issued, 
the  effect  of  which  was  so  powerful  as  to  throw  into  convulsions  both 
men  and  cattle. 


6.  The  rude  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  district,  unable  to 
account  for  this  phenomenon,  conceived  that  it  must  be  produced  by 
supernatural  agency,  and  regarded  the  incoherent  ravings  of  those 
who  had  inhaled  the  noxious  vapor  as  prophecies  uttered  under  the 
inspiration  of  some  god. 

7.  As  the  stupefying  exhalation  ascended  out  of  the  ground,  it  was 
at  first  conjectured  that  the  newly-discovered  oracle  must  be  that  of 
the  very  ancient  goddess,  Earth,  but  Neptune  was  afterwards  associ- 
ciated  with  this  divinity,  as  an  auxiliary  agent  in  the  mystery. 

8.  Finally,  the  whole  credit  of  the  oracle  was  transferred  to  Apollo 
A  temple  was  soon  built  on  the  hallowed  spot,  and  a  priestess,  named 
the  Pythoness,  was  appointed,  whose  office  it  was  to  inhale,  at  stated 
intervals,  the  prophetic  vapor.  To  enable  her  to  do  so  without  the 
risk  of  falling  into  the  cavern,  as  several  persons  had  previously  done, 
£  seat,  called  a  tripod,  from  its  having  three  feet,  was  erected  for  her 
accommodation  directly  over  the  mouth  of  the  chasm. 

9.  Still,  however,  the  Pythoness  held  an  office  which  was  neither 

b.  Where  was  the  oracle  of  Apollo?  What  may  be  said  of  it  ?  6.  What  was  believed 
by  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  ?  7.  What  was  the  conjecture  made  in  regard  to  tho 
oracle  t    8    What  of  the  Pythoness  1    9.    What  often  happened  to  the  Pythofiea*  * 


THE  AMPHICTYONIC  COUNCIL.  97 

safe  aor  agreeable.  The  convulsions  into  which  she  was  thrown  by 
the  unwholesome  vapors  of  the  cavern  were  in  some  instances  so 
violent  as  to  cause  immediate  death,  and  were  at  all  times  so  painful 
that  force  was  often  necessary  to  bring  the  official  to  the  prophetic  seat. 

10.  The  unconnected  words  which  the  Pythoness  screamed  out  in 
her  madness  were  arranged  into  sentences  by  the  attendant  priests,. 
who  could  easily  place  them  in  such  an  order,  and  fill  up  the  breaks 
in  such  a  way,  as  to  make  them  express  whatever  was  most  suitable 
to  the  interests  of  the  shrine,  which  was  the  main  object. 

11.  Lest  the  oracle  should  be  brought  into  discredit,  care  was,  in 
general,  taken  to  couch  the  response  in  language  so  obscure  and 
enigmatical,  that,  whatever  course  events  should  take,  the  prediction 
might  not  be  falsified,  .or  rather  might  appear  to  be  verified.  It  may 
be  observed  that,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  plan  of  simulating  convul- 
sions was  most  probably  adopted  by  the  chief  agent  in  these  impo- 
sitions. 

12.  The  fame  of  the  Delphic  oracle  soon  became  very  extensive, 
and  no  enterprise  of  importance  was  undertaken  in  any  part  of 
Greece,  or  of  its  numerous  colonies  in  the  islands  and  along  the 
•xasts  of  the  ^Egean  and  Mediterranean  seas,  without  a  consultation 
of  the  Pythoness. 

13.  The  presents  received  from  those  who  resorted  to  it  for  coun- 
sel, not  a  few  of  whom  were  princes  or  influential  and  wealthy  leaders, 
formed  a  source  of  great  and  permanent  revenue  to  the  institution 
and  not  only  afforded  the  officiating  priests  a  comfortable  maintenance, 
but  furnished  also  the  means  of  erecting  a  splendid  temple  instead  of 
the  rude  edifice  which  had  been  originally  constructed. 

14.  The  high  veneration  in  which  the  Delphic  oracle  was  held  gave 
its  directors  a  large  share  of  influence  in  public  affairs  ;  an  influence 
which  they  sometimes  exerted  in  a  most  commendable  manner  in 
sanctioning  and  furthering  the  schemes  of  the  statesmen,  legislators, 
and  warr.ors,  who  undertook  to  improve  the  political  systems,  reform 
laws  and  manners,  or  defend  the  liberties  of  Greece. 

15.  Like  the  Olympian  Festival,  it  also  formed  a  bond  of  union 
among  the  numerous  independent  communities  of  Greece,  and,  by 
lending  the  authority  of  the  gods  to  measures  of  general  utility,  often 
repressed  pefty  jealousies  and  quarrels,  and  excited  all  to  study  the 
common  welfare. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

The  Amphictyonic  Council. 

1.    Even  -when  the  rest  of  Greece  was  vexed  by  civil  war,  the 
chosen  territory  of  Apollo  was  undisturbed  by  the  din  of  arms ;  and 

10.  How  were  the  unconnected  exclamations  of  the  Pythoness  arranged?  11.  fhiw  was 
the  credit  of  the  oracle  maintained  ?  What  may  be  observed  of  the  convulsions  of  the 
Pythoness?  12.  What  of  the  importance  of  the  Delphic  oracle'j  13.  How  were  the 
pleats  of  the  oracle  supported,  and  how  was  the  temple  erected  ?  14.  How  did  the 
directors  of  the  oracle  use  their  influence  7  15.  What  effect  had  it  upon  the  independent 
»iate?  of  Greece?  "* 


98  POETRY  OF  PERIOD   I. 

the  security  whic'.i  it  enjoyed,  on  account  of  its  sacred  character 
caused  Delphi  to  become  a  place  of  deposit  for  "much  of  the  wealth  of 
the  states. 

2.  Lest  the  fear  of  divine  vengeance  should  not  prove  a  sufficiently 
strong  consideration  to  deter  the  warlike  communities,  by  which 
Delphi  was  surrounded,  from  plundering  a  temple  in  which  so  much 
treasure  was  accumulated,  the  sanctuary  was  placed  under  the  specie 
protection  of  the  Amphictyonic  Council. 

•  3.  This  council  consisted  of  two  deputies  from  each  of  the  principal 
states  of  Greece,  and  its  duties  were  to  effect,  by  its  recommendation 
and  authority,  a  settlement  of  all  political  and  religious  disputes  which 
might  arise  between  the  various  communities,  and  to  decide  upon 
proposals  of  peace  or  war  with  foreign  nations. m 

4.  The  date  of  its  establishment  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  supposed  to 
have  been  in  existence  as  early  as  the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth  century 
before  the  Christian  era  ;  that  is  to  say,  about  two  or  three  hundred 
years  before  the  war  of  Troy.  Amphictyon,  its  founder,  is  asserted 
by  some  to  have  been  a  king  of  Attica,  and  by  others  to  have  reigned 
over  not  only  that  district,  but  the  whole  of  Greece  to  the  south  of 
Thessaly. 

5.  The  Amphictyonic  Council  met  twice  a  year  ;  in  autumn  at  tho 
pass  of  Thermopylae,  on  the  northern  frontier  of  Thessaly,  and  in 
spring  at  Delphi.  Each  deputy  took  an  oath,  to  the  effect  that  he 
would  never  subvert  or  injure  any  Amphictyonic  city,  and  that,  if  such 
outrages  should  be  attempted  by  others,  lie  would  oppose  them  by 
force  of  arms.  He  further  swore,  that  if  any  party  inflicted  injury  on 
the  sacred 'territory  of  Delphi,  or  formed  designs  against  the  temple, 
he  would  use  his  utmost  efforts  to  bring  the  offenders  to  punishmet. 

6.  This  council  was  sometimes  of  great  use,  and  it  would  have, 
been  of  much  more,  if  the  Greeks  had  been  duly  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  confederation  as  a  means  of  advancing  the  general 
interest.  But  this,  unfortunately,  was  not  the  case  ;  and,  conse- 
quently, except  in  a  few  great  emergencies,  the  council  appear  to 
lave  had  but  little  influence  in  preventing  or  suppressing  civil  dissen- 
iions  and  wars  among  the  states  of  Greece. 


CHAPTER   XL. 

Poetry  of  Period  I.  —  Homer. 

1.  As  in  most  other  countries,  poetry  flourished  in  Greece  earliei 
than  prose.  At  a  very  remote  period,  Linus,  Orpheus,  and  Musa3us 
are  said  to  have  composed  poetry ;  but  although  some  verses,  attributed 

XXXIX.  —  I.  What  of  the  security  enjoyed  by  the  oracle  of  Apollo?  2.  By  what 
other  means  was  the  Delphic  temple  protected  ?  3.  What  was  the  Amphictyonic  Coun- 
cil ?  4.  What  was  the  date  of  its  establishment  ?  Who  was  Amphictyon  ?  5.  How 
often,  and  where  did  the  council  meet?  What  of  the  oath  taken  by  the  members  1 
6.    Why  was  this  council  of  no  more  use  ?    Whaj.  influence  had  it  ? 

XL  — 1.   What  of  the  poetry  of  Greecf  ?     What  of  Ljnus,  Orpheus,  and  Mn'SfensJ 


HOMER 


99 


zo  then,  are  still  extant,  it  is  now  generally  admitted  that  these  imiFt 
ha'  e  been  the  production  of  more  modern  times 


Homer. 


1  Htmer,  the  most  ancient  of  the  Grecian  poets  whose  works  have 
been  preserved,  is  understood  to  have  existed  in  the  tenth  century  be- 
foie  Christ,  or  about  three  centuries  previous  to  the  appearance  of  anv 
known  prose  writers  in  the  land. 

3.  Respecting-  Homer  very  little  is  known  with  certainty ;  it  has 
been  even  doubted  whether  such  a  man  ever  lived.  It  was  not  till 
about  the  year  540  B.  C.  that  an  Athenian  ruler,  named  Pisistratus, 
employed  some  learned  men  to  collect  and  arrange  a  series  of  poetical 
fragments,  which  had  until  then  been  preserved  chiefly  by  oral  tradi- 
tion, and  were  popularly  attributed  to  an  early  poet  named  Homer. 

4.  The  collected  pieces  formed  the  two  long  epic  poems,  named  th« 
Iliad  and  the  Odyssey,  as  now  known  to  the  world.  Whether  Homer 
was  only  a  being  of  imagination,  and  how  far,  if  he  really  existed,  the 

l    When  did  Homer  live?     3.  What  is  known  of  Homer?     How  were  his  poetical  frar?- 
iioatH  collected?    4.  What  of  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey?    What  questions  have  Teen  raised 


JOO  HOMER. 

poems  writt  ;n  down  bv  order  of  Pisis^racT^  /esembled  those  composed 
b^  the  reputed  author,  are  questions  which  have  caused,  and  not  with 
out  reason,  very  great  dispute. 

5.  One  circumstance,  of  winch  we  can  still  judge,  is  certainly  very 
favorable  to  the  supposition  that  they  were  the  work  of  one  mind  — 
namely,  the  uniform  character  of  the  composition.  It  must  also  be 
remembered,  that,  before  written  literature  existed,  oral  tradition  was 
very  different  from  what  it  is  now. 

6.  Poems  and   other  compositions  were  not  then  left  to  chanc 
remembrance,  but   were  committed   to  memory  by  individuals  whv 
gained  a  living  by  reciting  them,  and  who  in  turn  taught  thern  for 
price  to  others. 

7.  The  biographers  of  Homer  represent  him  as  a  blind  old  minstre1 
who  went  from  place  to  place,  reciting  or  singing  his  verses  for 
livelihood.     He  is  said  to  have  lived  about  the  year  900  B.  C,  and  r~ 
have  been  a  native  of  the  isle  of  Scio,  on  the  western  coast  of  Asii 
Minor,  which  seems  to  account  for  the  Ionic  dialect  in  which  hi* 
poems  were  written. 

8.  Many  years  after  he  had  closed  a  life  of  penury  and  neglect,  m 
"ewer  than  seven  considerable  Grecian  cities  contended  for  the  hono» 
M'  having  given  birth  to  this  inspired  mendicant.  Hence  the  poet  ha 
pointedly  said,  — 

Seven  Grecian  cities  strive  for  Homer  dead, 
Where  living  Homer  begged  his  daily  bread. 

The  island  of  Scio  is  nevertheless  regarded  as  most  likely  to  have 
been  his  birthplace. 


CHAPTER   XLI. 

Poetry  of  Greece.  —  Homer.  —  Hesiod. 

1.  The  Iliad  and  Odyssey  of  Homer  are  long  narrative  poems, 
illustrative  of  events  connected  with  the  Trojan  war.  At  the  time 
when  the  Iliad  opens,  the  tenth  and  last  year  of  the  siege  has  already 
arrived,  and  the  remaining  incidents  and  final  result  of  the  contest  are 
successively  described  with  great  poetical  power. 

2.  This  is  the  whole  subject  of  the  twenty-four  books  or  sections 
of  the  Iliad,  yet  the  characters  and  scenes  portrayed  in  the  poem  are 
so  numerous  as  to  add  the  strong  charm  of  variety  to  its  other  beau- 
ties. 

3.  The  leader  on  the  part  of  the  Greeks  was  Achilles,  of  whom 
many  curious  tales  were  told.  He  was  taught  war  and  music  by  the 
Thessalian  Centaur,  Chiron,  and  in  infancy  his  mother,  Thetis,  dipped 

about  Homer?  5.  What  circumstance  remains  hy  which  we  can  judge 1  What  of  oraj 
tradition  in  ancient  times?  6.  How  were  compositions  committed  to  memory  ?  7.  How 
is  Homer  represented  by  his  biographers  ?  8.  What  of  him  after  his  death?  Where  is 
lie  Generally  supposed  to  have  been  horn? 

KLI.  -  1.  What  of  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  1  2  What  is  the  subjet.  of  :he  Iliad  ?  3.  Wlr 


HOMER.  101 

•urn  in  the  river  S.yx,  thua  rendering  him  invulnerable,  excepting  the 
hePi  hv  which  she  held  him. 


Achilles  as  the  pupil  of  Chiron. 

4.  Hector  was  the  leader  of  the  Trojans,  and  it  is  said  that  more 
than  thirty  Greek  chiefs  fell  by  his  hand.  His  character,  as  a  son,  a 
husband,  a  brother  and  a  patriot,  allowing  for  the  rudeness  of  the  age, 
is  drawn  with  surpassing  skill  and  power. 

5.  The  immortal  gods  are  represented  as  not  only  feeling  a  deep 
interest,  but  even  making  themselves  active  parties,  in  the  war ;  which 
intermixture  of  divine  and  human  agency  in  the  poem  has,  of  course, 
the  effect  of  taking  from  it  all  natural  probability ;  yet,  leaving  this 
objection  aside,  there  is  much  in  the  Iliad  to  engage  the  attention  of 
an  inquirer  into  the  early  history  of  mankind. 

6.  It  abounds  with  descriptions  and  incidents  which  throw  a  light 
upon  either  the  lime  of  action  in  the  poem,  or  the  time  of  its  compo- 
sition. Heroes  are  represented  as  in  those  days  yoking  their  own 
cars ;  queens  and  princesses  are  busied  in  spinning  ;  and  Achilles  kills 
liis  mutton  with  his  own  hand,  and  dresses  his  own  dinner. 

7.  Yet  these  operations,  tame  and  commonplace  as  they  are,  and 
vulgar  as  they  might  seem  compared  with  the  occupations  of  modern 
heroes  and  heroines,  do  not,  in  the  hands  of  Homer,  detract  in  the 
slightest  degree  from  the  dignified  grandeur  of  the  characters  who 
perform  them. 

8.  The  general  tone  of  the  poem  is  grave  and  lofty,  and  it  occasion- 
ally rises  into  sublimity.  In  the  language  there  is  often  a  surprising 
felicity,  insomuch  that  one  word  will  sometimes  fill  the  mind  of  the 
reader  with  a  perfect  and  delightful  picture. 

was  Achilles?     What  stories  are  told  of  him?    4.  Who  was  Hector?     What  of  his  char- 
acter?    5.  What  interest  did  the  gods  take  in  the  war?      What  effect  does  this  circum- 
stance have?    6.  In  what  sort  of  incidents  does  the  Iliad  abound  ?    Hew  are  heroes  and 
Erincesses  represented?     7.  What  is  the  effect  of  these  circumstances  in  the  hands  of 
[omcr?    8.  What  of  the  tone  of  the  poem?    The  language  ?    9.  In  what  does  the  great 
9* 


102  HESIOD. 

9.  But  the  great  merit  of  the  poem  lies  in  the  strength  of  thought, 
and  the  singular  ardor  of  imagination  which  it  displays.  "  No  poet 
was  ever  more  happy,"  says  Dr.  Blair.  '  in  the  choice  of  his  subject, 
or  more  successful  in  painting  his  historical  and  descriptive  pieces. 

10.  "  There  is  considerable  resemblance  in  the  style  to  that  of  some 
parts  of  the  Bible  —  as  Isaiah,  for  instance  —  which  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at,  seeing  that  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  are  produc- 
tions of  nearly  the  same  age,  and  of  a  part  of  the  world  not  far  from 
the  alleged  birthplace  of  Homer." 

1 1 .  The  Odyssey  has  been  said  to  resemble  a  work  called  forth  by 
the  success  of  a  previous  one,,  and  ranks  as  a  whole  below  the  Iliad. 
It  relates  to  the  adventures  which  befell  Ulysses,  King  of  the  island 
of  Ithica,  on  his.way  home  from  the  Trojan  war. 

12.  Both  this  poem  and  the  Iliad  have  continued  for  more  than  two 
thousand  years  to  enjoy  the  admiration  of  mankind  ;  and  it  is  certainly 
a  proof  of  surpassing  merit,  tha  no  effort  in  the  same  style  of  poetry, 
though  made  under  circumstances  much  more  advantageous  than  those 
of  the  blind  old  minstrel,  has  ever  been  in  nearly  the  same  degree  suc- 
cessful. 

13.  Hesiod,  a  poet  much  inferior  in  powers  to  Homer,  whose  con- 
temporary he  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been,  was  the  author  of 
several  poems  of  considerable  merit,  two  of  which,  entitled  The  The- 
ogony,  or  the  Generation  of  the  Gods,  and  The  Works  and  Days,  have 
come  down  to  modern  times. 

14.  Few  of  the  events  of  Hesiod's  life  have  been  recorded,  and  of 
the  scanty  notices  which  we  possess  respecting  him,  some  appear  to 
be  entitled  to  little  credit.  He  was  a  native  of  Ascra,  a  town  of  B030- 
tia,  and  spent  his  youthful  years  in  tending  his  father's  sheep  on  the 
sides  of  Mount  Helicon. 

15.  He  gained  a  public  prize  in  a  poetical  contest  which  took  place 
at  the  celebration  of  funeral  games  in  honor  of  a  king  of  Euceba.  He 
lived  to  a  great  age,  and  is  stated  to  have  spent  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  in  Locris,  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Parnassus. 

16.  Quiet  and  inoffensive  in  his-disposition,  it  was  still  his  fate  to 
meet  with  a  violent  death.  A  Milesian,  who  resided  in  the  same  house 
with  him,  had  committed  a  gross  outrage  upon  a  young  woman,  whose 
brothers,  erroneously  supposing  that  Hesiod  had  connived  at  the  crime, 
included  him  in  its  punishment.  They  murdered  both  the  innocent 
poet  and  the  guilty  Milesian,  and  cast  their  bodies  into  the  sea. 

merit  of  the  poem  consist?  What  was  said  by  Dr.  Blair?  11.  What  of  the  Odyssey  1 
12.  How  long  have  these  two  poems  existed?  What  may  be  said  of  their  merit?  13 
What  of  Hesiod  ?  What  works  of  his  are  now  extaht?  14.  What  do  we  know  of  his 
life  1    15.  What  -jrize  did  he  gain  ?    To  what  age  did  he  live  ?    16.  What  was  hit  fate  ? 


POLITICAL  CONDITION  OF  GREECE.  103 


PERIOD    II. 

FROM  THE  INSTITUTION  OF  THE  OLYMPIC  FESTIVAL,  884  B.  0      TILL  TBI 
COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  PERSIAN  WAR,  493  B.  C 


CHAPTER   XLII. 

Political  Condition  of  Greece.  —  hycargiis. 


Lyciirgus. 

1.  Although  the  Greeks  had  begun  to  emerge  from  their  primitive 
barbarism,  they  were  still  in  a  very  rude  and  ignorant  condition  at 
the  date  of  the  institution  of  the  Olympic  Festival.  War  continued 
to  be  the  familiar  and  favorite  occupation  of  the  people,  and  the  arts 
of  peaceful  and  civilized  life  were  in  a  great  measure  unknown  or 
despised. 

2.  In  such  a  state  of  society,  bodily  strength  and  activity  were 
much  more  valuable  qualities,  even  in  the  prince  or  leader,  than  men 
tal  superiority  ;  while,  for  the  mass  of  the  community,  the  cultivation 
of  the  physical  powers,  and  the  inculcation  of  a  superstitious  rever- 
ence for  the  gods,  were  the  only  education  that  was  deemed  usefui  or 
desirable. 

XLII.  —  1.  Wliat  was  the  condition  of  the  Greeks  at  the  institution  of  the  Olympian 
Festival?    2.  What  qualities  were  deemed  most  valuable .'     What  education  the  nios' 


.04  PERIOD  II.  —  884  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 

3.  The  population  of  the  various  states^was  divided  into  three 
classes,  namely,  the  citizen*,  the  unfranchised  populace,  and'  the  slaves. 
All  political  power  was  monopolized,  even  in  the  most  democratica» 
of  the  Grecian  communities,  by  th*"  first  of  these  classes;  while  in  the 
oligarchical  states,  only  that  small  portion  of  the  citizens  which  consti- 
tuted the  nobility  or  aristocracy,  possessed  any  influence  in  the  man- 
agement of  affairs. 

4.  The  mechanical  and  agricultural  labors  necessary  for  the  support 
and  comfort  of  the  whole,  were  chiefly  performed  by  the  inferior  class 
~ffree  inhabitants,  who  did  not  enjoy  the  privileges  of  citizenship,  and 
oy  the  slaves,  who  formed  a  considerable  part  of  the  population  of 
every  state. 

5.  These  slaves  were  sprung  from  the  same  general  or  parent 
stock,  spoke  the'  same  language,  and  possessed  the  same  religion,  as 
their  master.  They  were,  in  most  cases,  the  descendants  of  persons 
who  had  been  conquered  in  war,  but  were  in  some  instances  acquired 
by  purchase. 

6.  The  prudent  and  liberal  policy  of  Theseus,  aided  by  the  intelli- 
gence and  activity  of  his  people,  had  early  rendered  Athens  the  most 
prosperous  and  influential  of  the  Grecian  states  ;  but  the  time  was  now 
approaching  when  Sparta  was  to  emerge  from  obscurity,  and,  under 
the  wise  guidance  of  Lycurgus,  to  rival,  if  not  to  surpass,  even  Athens 
itself. 

7.  This  celebrated  legislator  was  the  second  son  of  Eunomus,  one 
of  the  two  joint  kings  of  Lacedaemon,  and  is  believed  to  have  flour- 
ished about  884  B.  C.  After  the  death  of  Eunomus,  who  was  killed 
in  a  seditious  tumult,  Polydectes,  his  eldest  son,  succeeded  to  the 
throne,  but  he  died  shortly  after  his  accession. 

8.  Lycurgus  was  then  elevated  to  the  royal  dignity.  His  reign 
was,  however,  but  of  brief  duration,  for,  learning  that  a  child  of  his 
deceased  brother  would  probably  be  soon  brought  into  the  world,  he 
announced  his  intention  of  abdicating,  if  it  should  prove  a  son,  and  of 
continuing  to  administer  the  government  only  in  the  character  of  pro- 
tector or  regent  during  his  nephew's  minority. 

9.  When  the  widow  of  Polydectes  was  informed  of  the  determina- 
tion of  Lycurgus,  she  told  him  privately,  that,  if  he  would  marry  her, 
no  child  of  his  brother  should  ever  prove  an  obstacle  to  his  possession 
of  the  throne. 

10.  Lycurgus  was  filled  with  horror  at  this  unnatural  offer,  but 
prudently  suppressed  his  indignation,  and,  in  order  to  ensure  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  child,  induced  his  base  sister-in-law  to  believe  that  he 
himself  intended  to  destroy  it  immediately  after  its  birth. 

11.  He,  at  the  same  time,  gave  secret  instructions  to  her  attend- 
ants to  bring  him  the  child  as  soon  as  it  was  born  ;  and,  accordingly., 
one  evening,  as  he  was  supping  with  the  magistrates  of  the  city,  tii#» 


useful?  3.  How  was  the  population  divided?  By  whom  was  the  political  power  mo- 
nopolized? 4.  By  whom  was  the  labor  performed?  5.  What  of  slaves?  6.  What 
effe.c'  had  the  policy  of  Theseus?  7.  Who  was  Lycurgus  ?  What  of  Polydectes?  8. 
What  of  the  reign  of  Lycurgus?  Why  did  he  hold  the  intention  of  abdicating]  U.  What 
orler  was  made  to  Lycurgus  by  the  widow  of  Polydectes?  10.  What  did  Lycurgus  do  ? 
tl.  What  instructions  did  he  give  regarding  his  brother's  child?     What  words  did 


LVUUKUUIS. 


J  05 


fatherless  infant,  a  boy,  was  brought  to  him.  He  instantly  took  his 
(ifw-born  nephew  in  his  arms,  and,  addressing  the  company  said 
'  Spartans,  behold  your  king  '" 


•n  Lk  y 


« if""" 


The  infant  king  prtstnted  to  the  Spartans. 

12.  The  Lacedaemonians  joyfully  hailed  the  infant  as  their  sovc 
reign,  while  they  expressed  the  strongest  admiration  of  the  disin 
terested  and  upright  conduct  of  Lycurgus,  in  thus  relinquishing  the 
crown,  when  he  might  have  so  easily  retained  it. 


CHAPTER   XLIII. 


Lycurgus,  continued. 

1.  Although  the  noble  action  of  Lycurgus  raised  tiim  in  the  estl 
mation  of  all  good  men,  it  also  procured  him  the  enmity  of  the  disap- 
pointed widjw  of  Polydectes,  and  of  her  friends  and  adherents,  who 
maliciously  put  a  report  in  circulation  that  Lycurgus  intended  to 
murder  his  infant  nephew  and  usurp  the  throne. 

he  address  to  the  Spartans?     12.  What  did  the  Spartans  think  of  the  behavior  of  Ly 
cnrgns? 

XLIII.  —  1    What  was  the  effect  of  this  action  of  Lycurgus?     What  report  was  pot   s 


106  PhRlOl     II.-  884   B.  C.  TO  493  b    C. 

2.  This  allegation,  to  .vhich  his  previous  conduct  afforded  a  suf? 
cie.nl  contradiction,  can  scarcely  be  supposed  to  have  received  general 
credit;  but  the  persevering  hostility  of  his  unprincipled  accusers,  who 
emitted  no  opportunity  of  obstructing  his  administration,  gave  him  al 
length  so  much  annoyance,  that  he  abandoned  the  government,  and 
quitted  Sparta. 

3.  Subsequently,  he  proceeded  to  Crete,  in  order  to  study  the  sin- 
gular laws  and  institutions  of  Minos,  which  had  been  the  means  of 
raising  that  island  to  great  power  and  prosperity.  The  strong  resem- 
blance between  the  system  of  Minos,  and  that  which  Lycurgus  after- 
wards introduced  into  Lacedaemon,  sufficiently  proves  that  he  took  the 
Cretan  institutions  as  his  models  when  called  upon  to  legislate  for  his 
country. 

4.  After  residing  for  some  time  in  Crete,  he  passed  over  into  Asia 
Minor,  and  examined  the  laws,  manners,  and  customs  of  the  Grecian 
cities  founded  there.  The  Ionian  colonies  had  at  this  time  reached  a 
pitch  of  wealth  and  importance  far  exceeding  that  of  even  the  most 
flourishing  of  the  parent  states  of  Greece. 

5.  Favored  by  their  maritime  position,  fertile  soil,  and  wise  institu- 
tions, these  colonies  had  already  made  considerate  progress  in  com- 
merce and  trie  arts.  There  Lycurgus  met  with  the  poems  of  Homer, 
which  he  partially  collected,  and  afterwards  introduced  into  Greece, 
where  they  had  previously  been  very  little  known. 

6.  Meanwhile,  the  intestine  divisions  and  factious  contentions,  which 
had  for  a  long  period  distracted  Sparta,  rose  to  such  a  height  that  the 
laws  fell  into  contempt,  the  authority  of  the  kings  was  disregarded, 
and  all  was  anarchy  and  confusion. 

7.  This  deplorable  state  of  things  produced  a  general  conviction 
*.hat  a  reform  in  the  national  institutions  was  indispensable,  and  the 
eyes  of  the  Lacedaemonians  turned  to  Lycurgus,  as  an  individual 
whose  experience,  wisdom,  and  probity,  peculiarly  qualified  him  foi 
the  task  of  preparing  a  new  constitution  for  his  country. 

8.  After  repeated  invitations,  Lycurgus  consented  to  undertake  this 
important  duty ;  but  before  commencing  his  legislative  labors,  he 
deemed  it  advisable  to  obtain  the  sanction  of  religion  for  the  changes 
which  he  intended  to  make,  in  order  that  they  might  be  the  more 
readily  acquiesced  in  by  the  people. 

9.  He  therefore  proceeded  to  Delphi,  where  he  obtained  from  the 
oracle  a  response,  in  which  he  was  told  that  he  was  singularly  favored 
by  the  gods  ;  that  he  was  himself  rather  a  god  than  a  man  ;  and  that 
the  system  he  was  about  to  establish  would  be  the  most  excellent 
ever  invented. 

10.  Fortified  with  the  sanction  of  the  oracle,  he  returned  to  Sparta, 

circulation?  2.  What  credit  did  it  receive?  What  was  Lycurgus  forced  to  do?  3. 
Where  did  he  next  proceed  ?     For  what  purpose  ? 

What  may  be  said  in  regard  to  the  system  of  Minos  and  that  which  Lycurgus  after- 
wards introduced  into  Lacedaemon  ?  4,  5.  Where  did  he  go  after  leaving  Crete  ?  What 
jf  the  Ionian  colonies  ?  What  of  the  poems  of  Homer?  6.  What  was  now  the  condition, 
of  Sparta? 

7.  What  was  the  result  of  this  state  of  things?  How  did  the  Lacedaemonians  now  look 
upon  Lycurgus?  8.  Did  Lycurgus  consent  to  return?  What  sanction  did  he  deem  V 
necessary  to  obtain  ?    9.  What  oracle  did  he  consult  ? 


CODE  OF  lA'OURGUS. 


107 


where  he  cautiously  commenced  by  privately  explaining-  his  design? 
to  his  friends.  After  having  secured  the  cooperation  of  many  of  the 
principal  citizens,  he  proceeded  to  call  a  general  assembly  of  the  peo- 
ple, at  which  his  party  mustered  in  such  strength  as  overcame  all 
opposition,  and  enabled  him  to  proceed  openly  to  develop  his  plans, 
and  reduce  them  to  practice. 


CHAPTER   XLIV. 

Lycurgus  establishes  his  Corh 


The  twin  kings  of  Sparta. 

i.  Lycurgus  first  directed  his  attention  to  the  improvemen  of  the 
political  constitution  of  the  state.  He  continued  the  system  of  divided 
royalty  established  in  the  days  of  the  twin-brothers,  Eurysthenes  and 
Procles,  and  he  confirmed  to  the  descendants  of  these  princes  the  joint 
possession  of  the  throne.  But  he  greatly  limited  the  royal  prerogative, 
transferring  the  executive  power  to  a  senate  consisting  of  thirty  mem- 
bers, and  of  which  the  two  kings  were  made  official  presidents. 

2.  The  remaining  twenty-eight  senators  he  selected  from  among 
the  wisest  and  most  noble  of  the  citizens,  directing  that  their  successors 

What  was  the  reply  of  the  oracle?  10.  How  did  he  commence  his  design  in  Sparta? 
What  happened  at  the  assembly  of  the  people? 

XLIV.  —  I.  To  what  did  Lycunjus  first  direct  his  attention  ?  Wha-  c  f  the  system  of 
divided  royalty  ?    How  did  he  limit  the  royal  prerogative?     2.  Whale'  the  senate  an^ 


I  OS  PERIOD  11.-8*1  B..C.  TO  42s   H.  V. 

should  mer  after  be  elected  by  the  people  The  senators  we*,  e  to 
hold  their  offices  for  life,  and  no  person  was  to  be  eligible  who  had 
not  passed  his  sixtieth  year. 

3.  The  functions  of  the  senate  were  deliberative  as  well  as  execu- 
tive. The  laws  which  it  originated  were  afterwards  submitted  to  the 
assembled  citizens,  for  their  approval  or  rejection,  which  they  signified 
by  a  simple  vote,  without  altering  or  even  discussing  the  measures' 
brought  before  them. 

4.  Besides  presiding  in  the  senate,  the  kings  were  the  comma  ndeTS 
of  the  army,  and  the  high  priests  of  the  national  religion.  They 
enjoyed  the  chief  seat  in  every  public  assembly,  received  strangers 
and  ambassadors,  and  superintended  the  public  buildings  and  high- 
ways. 

5.  Lest  the  kings  or  senate  should  overstep  the  constitutional  limits 
of  their  power,  five  officers,  named  Ephori,  were  annually  elected  by 
the  people,  who  were  invested  with  authority  to  bring  to  trial  all  who 
offended  against  the  laws,  whatever  might  be  their  rank,  and  with 
power  to  punish,  by  fine  or  flogging,  even  the  kings  and  senators 
themselves. 

6.  Having  settled  the  form  of  the  government,  Lycurgus  next 
undertook  the  reformation  of  the  social  institutions  and  the  manners  of 
the  people.  Perceiving  that  the  state  was  exposed  to  peril,  on  account 
of  the  hostile  feeling  with  which  the  rich  and  the  poor  regarded  each 
other,  he  resolved  on  the  bold  measure  of  an  equal  division  of  the 
lands. 

7.  Accordingly,  he  parcelled  out  the  Laconian  territory  into  thirty- 
nine  thousand  lots,  one  of  which  was  given  to  each  citizen  of  Sparta, 
or  free  inhabitant  of  Laconia.  Each  of  these  lots  was  of  such  a  size 
as  barely  sufficed  to  supply  the  wants  of  a  single  family  ;  for  Lycurgus 
was  determined  that  no  person  should  be  placed  in  such  circumstances 
as  would  permit  of  luxurious  living. 

8.  With  the  view  of  rendering  the  state  dependent  only  on  its  own 
territorial  produce,  and  of  preventing  the  undue  accumulation  of 
wealth  in  the  hands  of  individuals,  he  prohibited  the  use  of  any  money, 
except  an  iron  coin,  the  value  of  which  was  so  small,  compared  with 
its  bulk  and  weight,  that  he  hoped  the  necessity  of  using  it  as  the 
medium  of  exchange  would  render  it  difficult  to  carry  on  trade,  and 
especially  foreign  commerce. 

0.  At  the  same  time,  by  subjecting  this  iron  coin  to  a  process  by 
which  the  metal  was  rendered  brittle  and  unfit  for  other  uses,  he  at- 
tempted to  destroy  all  desire  of  hoarding  it  up  as  treasure.  Were  we 
to  credit,  some  of  the  ancient  writers,  this  measure  was  productive  of 
all  the  effects  which  Lycurgus  expected  from  it.  Foreign  traders 
ceased  to  resort  to  Sparta,  and  the  native  artisans  desisted  from  man- 
senators?  3.  What  of  the  functions  of  the  senate?  How  were  laws  rejected  or  approved 
by  the  people? 

4.  What  were  the  offices  and  privileges  of  the  kings?  5.  Who  were  the  Ephori  ? 
What  were  their  duties?  6.  What  reformation  d1  Lycurgus  next  undertake?  What 
plan  did  he  resolve  upon  ?  7.  How  did  he  diviue  the  Laconian  territory  ?  For  what 
was  the  size  of  the  lots  barely  sufficient?  What  was  the  only  coin  allowed  to  be  used  ? 
What  was  the  reason  of  this  ? 

9.  How  did  Lycurgus  prevent  the  hoarding  of  this  coin  ?     What  effect  had  this  rneaa 


LYCURGUS. 


]0<, 


ifacltiring  articles  of  luxury  and  ornament,  as  there  was  no  longeT 
my  valuable  money  to  offer  them  in  exchange  for  their  wares 

10.  But  the  truth  seems  to  be,  that  Sparta,  owing  chiefly  to  her 
inland  situation,  had  little  or  no  foreign  commerce  to  destroy  at  the 
era  <  f  Lycurgus'  legislation,  and  that  the  national  manners  were  still 
too  simple  and  unrefined  to  produce  a  demand  for  those  ornamental 
articles,  the  manufacture  of  which  is  said  to  have  been  stopped  by  the 
introduction  of  the  iron  money. 

11.  Had  the  Lacedaemonians  been  in  reality  as  desirous  of  magnifi- 
cence and  luxury  as  they  are  represented  to  have  been,  it  would  still 
have  been  in  their  power  to  transfer  by  barter  from  one  to  another 
those  commodities  which  had  previously  been  bought  and  sold  for 
gold  or  silver,  and  the  foreign  merchant  would  have  been  as  little 
disposed  as  the  domestic  trader  to  refuse  to  exchange  his  goods  for 
gold,  silver,  or  other  articles  of  value,  although  not  formed  into  coin, 
3r  paid  under  the  name  of  money. 


CHAPTER   XLV. 

Code  of  Lycurgus,  continued. 


Spartans  duung. 

I  The  next  measure  of  Lycurgus  struck  a  much  more  effect ua 
blow  at  luxury,  and,  accordingly,  we  find  that  it  gave  greater  offence 

ure  upon  foreign  traders?  Upon  the  native  artisans?  10.  What  does  the  truth,  how 
ever,  seem  to  be  in  regard  to  the  commerce  of  Sparta? 

11.  What  would  still  have  been  in  the  power  of  ihe  Lacedaemonians,  had  they  been  at 
desirous  of  luxury  as  they  are  represented  1 

XLV.-  1.  What  was  Lycurgus*  next  measure?  Wr  at  was  the  effect  of  it  7  2.  How 
10 


no 


PERIOD  11—884  RC.TO  493  B. 


to  the  wealthier  portion  of  the  Lacedaemonian  people  than  any  of  his 
other  enactments.  He  directed  that  all  men,  without  distinction  of 
rank  or  age,  should  eat  at  public  tables,  which  were  furnished  with 
the  plainest  and  least  relishing-  food. 

2.  These  tables  were  furnished  by  the  people,  each  individual  being 
required  to  contribute  monthly  a  certain  portion  of  provisions  Lest 
any  person  should  evade  the  law,  by  partaking  of  richer  fare  a.  l»ome 
or  in  private,  regular  attendance  at  the  public  meals  was  rip;*'*  ««ily 
enforced. 


Lvcursus  and  Akander. 


3  This  measure  was  at  first  violently  resisted,  and  in  a  ira"*'  • 
which  it  gave  rise,  a  young  man,  named  Alcander,  beat  out  one  ot 
the  eyes  of  Lycurgus.  This  outrage  had,  however,  the  effect  ot 
turning  the  current  of  public  feeling  in  favor  of  the  lawgiver,  and 
Alcander  was  given  up  to  him  for  punishment.  But  Lycurgus, 
instead  of  treating  him  with  severity,  took  him  home  with  him,  and 
by  gentle  treatment  and  calm  expostulation,  convinced  him  of  the  im- 
propriety of  his  conduct,  and  converted  him  from  a  furious  opponent 
into  an  admiring  supporter. 

4.    At  the  public  meals,  rude  or  noisy  conversation  was  forbidden, 

were  the  tables  supplied  ?     Why  was  regular  attendance  forced  ?    3.  What  did  Alcander 
do?    What  was  the  effect  of  this  action?     How  was  he  punished  ? 
4.  'Vhat  of 'he  conversation  at  the  public  meals?    Haw  did  the  Spartans  ^sit  at  table? 


SYSTEM  OF  LYCUROua.  Ill 

aiid  no  person  was  at  liberty  to  mention  elsewhere  what  had  been  said 
on  these  occasions.  At  table,  the  Spartans  reclined  on  uncushioned 
benches,  while  their  children,  who  were  allowed  to  be  present  from  a 
very  tender  age,  sat  on  stools  at  their  feet.  The  regular  fare  was 
black  broth,  boiled  pork,  barley-bread,  with  a  little  cheese,  and  a  few 
figs  or  dates. 

5.  The  drink  was  wine  and  water,  served  in  such  small  quantities 
as  barely  sufficed  to  quench  the  thirst.  A  dessert,  consisting  of  poul- 
try, fish,  game,  cakes,  and  fruits,  was  usually  added  at  the  expense 
of  some  private  person ;  and  when,  at  a  later  period,  the  severity  of 
Lacedaemonian  manners  was  relaxed,  many  rich  and  expensive  dain- 
ties were  added  to  the  public  meals,  under  the  name  of  this  dessert. 

6.  Lest  intercourse  with  foreigners  should  corrupt  the  simple  man- 
ners of  the  Spartans,  all  strangers  were  ordered  to  quit  the  country, 
and  travelling  into  foreign  parts  was  prohibited.  Lycurgus,  who  was 
a  man  of  few  words,  held  great  talkers  in  aversion,  and  took  much 
pains  to  introduce  a  concise  and  pithy  style  of  speaking  among  his 
countrymen.  So  great  was  his  success,  that  Spartan  brevity  of 
speech  soon  became  proverbial,  and  even  at  the  present  day  a  short 
and  forcible  observation  is  termed  laconic,  from  Laconia,  the  name  of 
the  Lacedaemonian  territory. 

7.  From  the  day  of  their  birth  to  that  of  their  death  the  Spartans 
were  subjected  to  a  strict  system  of  training.  When  a  child  was  born, 
its  father  was  obliged  to  bring  it  to  certain  public  officers,  who  decided 
whether  it  should  be  preserved  or  thrown  out  into  the  fields  to  perish, 
according  as  it  appeared  to  be  strong  or  sickly,  well  formed  or  mis- 
shapen. 

8.  Those  infants  whom  the  judges  ordered  to  be  preserved,  were 
then  handed  over  to  nurses,  provided  by  the  state,  who  were  instructed 
to  rear  them  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  them  hardy  in  body  and 
fearless  in  spirit. 

9.  Boys  who  had  completed  their  seventh  year  were  placed  in 
public  establishments  for  training  and  education.  There  they  were 
divided  into  companies,  over  each  of  which  a  boy  more  advanced  in 
years,  or  more  active  than  the  rest,  was  placed  as  captain,  with  au- 
thority to  repress  disorder  and  punish  the  refractory. 

10.  Their  discipline  was  little  else  than  an  apprenticeship  to  hard- 
ship, self-denial,  and  obedience,  and  little  attention  was  paid  to  their 
mental  cultivation  further  than  to  imbue  them  with  an  unconquerable 
spirit  of  fortitude  and  endurance,  an  enthusiastic  love  of  military  glory, 
and  an  unbounded  attachment  to  their  country. 

11.  As  the  young  advanced  in  years,  they  were  subjected  to  greater 
privations,  and  accustomed  to  more  trying  exercises.    Even  during  the 


The  children?  What  was  their  fare?  5.  Their  drink?  What  of  the  dessert ?  What 
was  afterwards  added  to  this  dessert  ? 

6.  How  was  intercourse  with  strangers  prevented  ?  What  of  the  laconic  style  of con- 
fersation?  7.  What  was  the  father  obliged  to  do  when  a  child  was  born  ?  What  did  the 
officers  decide? 

8.  What  became  of  the  infants  who  were  preserved?  9.  What  was  done  with  boya 
who  had  completed  their  seventh  year?  10.  What  of  their  discipline?  What  was  tat 
only  attention  paid  to  mental  cultivation  ? 

ll,   What  was  done  to  those  mr re  advanced  in  years?    What  were  they  'orced  *o  do 


112 


PERIOD   II.—  884    R.  C.  TO  493  B.  V. 


most  inclement  season  of  the  year,  they  were  compelled  to  go  bare- 
footed, and  very  thinly  clad.  They  were  allowed  only  one  garment, 
and  this  they  were  obliged  to  wear  for  a  whole  year,  however  dirty 
and  ragged  it  had  become  before  the  end  of  that  period.  They  slept 
on  a  bed  of  reeds,  and  were  denied  everything  that  might  lead  to  effem- 
inate habits. 

12.  To  increase  their  love  of  war,  they  were  encouraged  to  engage 
in  frequent  combats  with  oi.e  another,  while  their  seniors  looked  on 
and  applauded  those  who  fought  with  courage  and  dexterity,  or  who 
received  the  severest  blows  without  exhibiting  any  outward  signs  of 
pain.  All  their  exercises  were  intended  to  render  them  robust  in  frame, 
patient  in  suffering,  bold  in  spirit,  and  prompt  and  decisive  in  action. 

llffe 


Spartan  boys  publicly  whipped. 

13.  To  sharpen  their  wits,  Lycurgus  did  not  hesitate  to  direct  lha 
the  boys  should  be  encouraged  to  steal  provisions  from  one  another 
and  even  from  the  public  tables,  and  the  houses  and  gardens  of  the 


in  winter?    What  clothe3  were  they  allowed?    How  did  they  sleep?     12.   How  war 
their  love  of  war  increased  ?    For  w  hat  were  all  these  exercises  intended  ? 
13.   Were  the  young  encouraged  to  steal?     If  they  were  detected  what  happened 


SYSTEM  OF  LYCURGUS.  113 

citizens.  It  they  were  detected  committing  theft,  they  were  severely 
punished  ;  not,  however,  for  attempting-  to  steal,  but  for  doing  it  with 
so  little  address  and  caution  as  to  be  discovered. 

14.  Even  after  arriving  at  manhood,  the  Spartan  citizens  were  by 
no  means  left  to  the  freedom  of  their  own  will,  but,  like  soldiers  in  a 
camp,  all  had  their  respective  duties  assigned  to  them  by  the  laws. 
Every  citizen  was  expected  to  study,  not  his  own  individual  advantage 
or  pleasure,  but  the  good  of  the  community,  and  to  be  ready  even  to 
lay  down  his  life  with  cheerfulness,  if  he  could  thereby  do  service  to 
the  state. 

15.  They  were  forbidden  to  employ  themselves  in  the  mechanical 
arts,  or  in  cultivating  the  soil ;  and  when  not  engaged  in  military  ser- 
vice, they  spent  their  time  in  superintending  the  public  schools,  and 
engaging  in  athletic  and  military  exercises,  in  hunting,  in  assemblies 
for  grave  conversation,  or  in  the  services  of  religion. 

16.  They  were  not  allowed  to  take  any  part  in  public  business  until 
they  were  thirty  years  of  age,  and  even  then  a  man  of  ordinary  sta- 
tion was  thought  forward  and  presuming  who  intermeddled  much  with 
political  affairs.  Jt  was  also  considered  disreputable  for  a  man  to 
spend  much  of  his  time  in  domestic  retirement,  or  to  betray  a  fondness 
for  the  society  of  his  family.  The  state  alone  was  held  to  be  truly 
worthy  of  a  Spartan's  affection. 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

System  of  Lycurgus,  continued.  —  His  Death. 

1.  In  Lacedaemon  the  slaves  were  the  property  of  the  state,  and 
were  distributed,  with  the  land,  among  the  free  inhabitants  of  Laconia, 
nearly  in  the  same  manner  as  transported  convicts  are  portioned  out 
among  the  free  settlers  in  some  modern  colonies. 

2.  The  Spartan  slaves  consisted  of  the  descendants  of  the  original 
inhabitants  of  Laconia,  and  were  called  Helots,  from  the  name  of  a 
town,  Helos,  the  inhabitants  of  which  had  made  a  very  obstinate  resist- 
ance to  the  Dorian  invaders  of  tie  Peloponnesus. 

3.  To  the  Helots,  Lycurgus  assigned  the  labors  of  agriculture  and 
the  mechanical  arts.  They  were  required  to  follow  their  masters  in 
time  of  war,  and  formed  a  numerous  light  armed  force  in  every  Lace- 
daemonian army.  They  likewise  officiated  as  domestic  servants,  and 
in  every  other  menial  capacity. 

4.  Yet  although  the  Helots  were  the  most  truly  useful  members  of 
the  Spartan  community,  they  were  treated  by  their  haughty  masters 

14.  What  was  expected  of  the  Spartans  after  arriving  at  manhood  ?  15.  In  what  were 
they  forbidden  to  employ  themselves  ?  How  did  they  spend  their  time  when  not  engaged 
in  war? 

16.  When  were  they  allowed  to  take  a  part  in  public  affairs?  What  was  considered 
disreputable?     What  was  the  only  worthy  object  of  a  Spartan's  affections? 

XLVI.  —  1.  What  of  the  slaves  of  Lacedaemon?  2.  Who  were  these  slaves?  3.  What 
labors  were  assigned  to  the  Helots  ?     What  other  duties  were  they  required  te  perform  1 

8 


114 


PERIOD  II.  —  834  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 


in  the  most  cruel  and  contumelious  manner,  and  often  y_  Jt  to  death  out 
of  mere  whim  or  sport.  They  were  obliged  to  appear  in  a  dress  be 
tokening  their  bondage,  a  bonnet  of  dog-skin,  and  a  sheep-skin  vest. 
They  were  prohibited  to  teach  their  children  any  accomplishments 
which  might  equalize  them  with  their  lords. 


Slaves  made  drwik. 

5.  A  Lacedaemonian  might  flog  his  slaves  once  a  day,  merely  to 
remind  them  that  they  were  slaves.  They  were  sometimes  compelled 
to  drink  till  they  were  drunk,  and  to  perform  extravagant  and  indecent 
dances,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  young  Spartans  the  disgusting 
condition  to  which  men  are  reduced  by  intoxicating  liquors. 

6.  The  murder  of  a  slave  was  not  punishable  by  law,  and  once  a 
year  it  was  customary  for  the  young  Spartans  to  disperse  themselves 
over  the  country  in  small  parties,  and  waylay  and  assassinate  the 
stoutest  and  best-looking  Helots  they  could  find,  by  way  of  exercising 
their  prowess ! 

7.  Only  anxious  to  form  a  nation  of  able-bodied,  hardy,  and  warlike 
citizens,  Lycurgus  scrupled  not  to  trample  upon  every  amiable  and 
modest  feeling  of  his  countrywomen,  provided  he  thereby  advanced 
his  favorite  object.  He  directed  that  they  should  quit  their  retired 
mode  of  life,  and  publicly  exercise  themselves  in  running,  wrestling, 
throwing  the  javelin,  and  other  masculine  sports.  He  also  took  such 
measures  as  show  that  he  altogether  despised  that  nuptial  obligation 
which  is  the  foundation  of  so  much  of  the  virtue  and  the  happiness  of 
modern  society.     A  Spartan  mother  was  chiefly  anxious  that  her  sons 


4  How  were  the  Helots  treated  ?  How  were  they  obliged  to  dress?  What  were  they 
prohibited  to  teach  their  children  ? 

5.  How  did  the  Spartans  remind  them  that  they  were  staves?  What  were  they  seme- 
times  compelled  to  do?  6.  Was  the  murder  of  a  slave  punishable  by  law?  What  was 
I  the  custom  once  a  year  to  do  ? 

7    What  did  Lycurgus  direct  in  regard  to  the  Spartan  women  ?    How  did  he  regait  the 


SYSTEM  OF  LYCURGUS 


na 


should  l>3  brave  warriors,  and  the  choicest  gift  she  couM  bestow  w  ■ 
a  suit  of  armor. 


Spartan  mother. 

8.  As  a  whole,  and  viewed  by  the  light  of  our  day,  the  system  of 
Lycurgus,  though  in  advance  of  his  age,  was  a  narrow  and  barbarous 
echeme.  It  annihilated  individual  liberty,  and  made  every  man  the 
slave  of  the  state,  or  community.  Social  independence,  the  greatest 
charm  of  existence,  was  destroyed.  It  was  designed  only  to  make  a 
nation  of  soldiers,  military  power  being  then  deemed  the  highest 
national  glory  ;  and  to  this  end  it  was  well  fitted. 

9.  To  make  a  people  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  peaceful  pursuits ; 
happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  largest  liberty ;  happy  in  being  virtu 
ous ;  happy  in  their  homes,  their  families,  their  religion,  their  good 
fame,  was  a  conception  reserved  for  future  ages,  and  not  then  discerned 
by  the  wisest  of  mankind. 

10  The  chief  virtues  inculcated  in  Sparta  were  those  of  a  military 
kind,  such  as  bodily  strength  and  activity,  patient  endurance  of  priva- 
tions  indifference  to  danger  and  pain,  unconquerable  resolution,  and 


nuptial   obligation?      What  was  a  Spartan  mother'*  only  wish?      8.   What   must  he 
thought  of  the  system  of  Lycurgus,  viewed  by  the  light  of  our  day?    What  were  the 
effects  of  it? 
9.  What  is  the  end  and  aim  of  modern  government  ?     10.  What  were  the  cl  ief  virtues 


116  PERIOD  II.-SS4  JJ.  C.  TO   493  B.  C. 

«■ 

heroic  valor  The  frugality  and  temperance  of  the  Spartans,  then 
grave  decorum,  invincible  courage,  and  patriotic  devotion,  have  been 
the  subjects  of  commendation  ;  but  these  virtues,  being  carried  to  ex- 
cess, degenerated  into  vices,  and  rendered  the  Lacedaemonians  ascetic, 
harsh  and  unfeeling. 

11.  Their  love  of  war  impelled  them  to  an  aggressive  and  tyranni- 
cal system  of  foreign  policy,  and  their  contempt  of  the  arts  of  peace 
and  the  calm  enjoyments  of  domestic  life  prevented  them  from  culti- 
vating those  gentler  and  kindlier  feelings  of  man's  nature,  which, 
practically,  are  the  chief  sources  of  human  enjoyments. 

12.  After  Lycurgus  had  finished  his  legislation,  he  convoked  an 
assembly  of  the  people,  and  told  them  that  there  was  still  one  point 
on  which  he  wished  to  consult  the  Delphic  oracle,  but  that,  before  his 
departure  for  that  purpose,  he  wished  them  to  swear  that  they  would 
retain  his  institutions,  unaltered,  till  his  return. 

13.  The  Lacedaemonians  having  complied  with  his  wishes,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Delphi,  where  he  obtained  from  the  oracle  an  assurance, 
that,  if  Sparta  continued  to  abide  by  his  laws,  it  would  become  the 
greatest  and  most  flourishing  state  in  the  world. 

14.  Having  committed  this  gratifying  reply  to  writing,  he  trans- 
mitted it  to  Lacedaemon,  and  then,  in  order  that  the  Spartans  might 
never  be  released  from  their  oath,  he,  according  to  the  common 
account,  voluntarily  starved  himself  to  death. 

15.  Some  writers,  however,  assert  that  he  died  in  Crete,  at  a  good 
old  age,  and  that,  conformably  to  his  request,  his  body  was  afterwards 
burned,  and  the  ashes  cast  into  the  sea,  lest  his  remains  should  be 
conveyed  home  to  Sparta,  and  his  countrymen  thereby  have  a  pretext 
for  declaring  themselves  relieved  from  their  obligation  to  respect  his 
laws. 


\ 


CHAPTER   XLVII. 

The  Messenian  Wars. 


1.  About  a  century  after  the  death  of  Lycurgus,  the  Lacedaemonians 
and  their  neighbors,  the  Messenians,  commenced  a  war,  which  lasted 
for  twenty  years.  In  the  course  of  this  protracted  contest,  the  Mes- 
senians, having  consulted  the  Delphic  oracle  regarding  the  best  means 
of  rendering  the  gods  propitious,  received  for  answer  that  they  ought 
to  sacrifice  a  nobly-born  virgin  to  the  infernal  deities. 

2.  Aristodemus,  a  Messenian  general,  offered  his  own  daughter  as 
a  victim,  and  she  was  about  to  be  immolated,  when  her  lover  made  a 

in  Sparta?  What  may  be  said  of  them  ?  11.  What  was  the  effect  of  the  Spartans'  iove 
of  war?    Of  their  contempt  of  the  arts  of  peace? 

13.  What ui<l  Lycurgus  do,  after  having  finished  his  legislation?  13.  What  assurance 
did  he  obtain  from  the  oracle?  14.  Why  did  he  then  put  himself  to  death?  15.  What, 
however,  is  said  by  o'her  writers  in  regard  to  his  death  ? 

XLVII.  —  1.  What  happened  a  century  after  the  death  of  Lycunrus  ?  What  oracle  di  i 
ihe  Messenians  consult?     What  answer  did  they  receive?    2.   What  did  Aristodemc 


THE  MESSENIAN   WARS.  117 

desperate  effort  to  save  her,  by  pretending  that  she  vas  not  qualified 
for  the  sacrifice.  But  this  declaration  had  no  oil  er  effect  than  to 
rouse  the  fury  of  Aristodemus,  who  barbarously  stabbed  his  daughter 
to  the  heart. 

3.  The  war  was  continued  for  several  years  with  various  success. 
Aristodemus,  who  had  greatly  distinguished  himself  in  the  contest, 
by  his  valor  and  ability,  was  ultimately  raised  to  the  Messenian 
throne.  But  amidst  all  his  greatness  and  his  triumphs,  he  was 
tormented  with  remorse  for  having  destroyed  his  daughter ;  and  at 
length,  unable  longer  to  endure  his  own  reflections,  he  slew  himself 
upon  her  grave. 

4.  With  Aristodemus  fell  the  royalty  and  independence  of  Messe- 
nia.  Within  a  short  time  of  his  death,  the  country  was  annexed  to 
the  territory  of  Lacedaemon.  Thus  terminated  what  is  called  the 
First  Messenian  War. 

5.  The  Messenians  had  been  in  subjection  for  thirty-nine  years, when 
they  rose  in  revolt  against  the  Spartans,  and,  under  a  skilful  leader 
named  Aristomenes,  commenced  the  second  Messenian  war,  about  the 
year  685  B.  C.  Having  obtained  assistance  from  the  Arcadians 
Argives,  and  Elians,  they  thrice  encountered  and  defeated  the  Lace- 
daemonians. 

6.  Disconcerted  at  their  bad  fortune,  the  Spartans  asked  the  advice 
of  the  oracle  at  Delphi,  and  were  commanded  to  send  to  Athens  for  a 
general,  if  they  wished  to  be  victorious.  There  was  always  a  mutual 
jealousy  between  the  Lacedaemonians  and  the  Athenians,  and  the 
former  felt  a  considerable  degree  of  reluctance  to  ask  a  commander 
from  the  latter. 

7.  They,  however,  obeyed  the  oracle,  and  the  Athenians  sent  them 
a  lame  schoolmaster,  called  Tyrtaeus,  for  a  general.  This  they  doubt- 
less did  in  derision  of  the  Spartans ;  but  the  issue  proved  that  they 
could  not  have  given  a  better  leader,  for  Tyrtaeus  was  a  poet  of  much 
ability,  and  composed  such  spirit-stirring  appeals  to  the  military  pride 
of  the  Spartans,  that  they  were  stimulated  to  redoubled  exertions,  and 
speedily  caused  the  struggle  to  assume  an  aspect  favorable  to  them- 
selves and  disheartening  to  their  adversaries. 

8.  In  one  of  the  defeats  which  the  Messenians  about  this  time 
experienced,  their  general,  Aristomenes,  was  taken  prisoner,  and  was, 
together  with  about  fifty  of  his  soldiers,  cast  into  a  deep  cavern  at 
Sparta,  which  the  Lacedaemonians  were  accustomed  to  use  as  a  last 
receptacle  for  such  criminals  as  had  been  capitally  condemned. 

9.  Aristomenes  was  the  only  one  of  the  Messenians  who  was  not 
killed  by  the  fall  into  the  pit.  After  remaining  in  the  cavern  for  two 
days,  and  when  he  had  laid  himself  down  to  die,  he  heard  a  noise, 

do  ?  How  did  the  lover  attempt  to  save  the  daughter  of  Aristodemus  ?  What  effect  did 
this  have  ? 

3.  How  was  the  war  continued?  What  of  Aristodemus  ?  Howdid  he  die?  4.  What 
now  became  of  Messenia?  What  was  this  war  called  ?  5.  What  happened  after  thirty- 
nine  years?  What  of  Aristomenes ?  From  whom  did  the  Messenians  obtain  assist- 
ance? 

6.  What  did  the  Spartans  do?  What  answer  did  they  receive?  What  feeling  was 
.here  between  the  Spartans  and  Athenians  ?  7.  Whom  did  the  Athenians  send  ?  What 
was  the  result  ? 

8.  What  happened  about  this  time  to  Aristomenes  and  fifty  of  his  soldiers  ?    9,11   Ri 


IIS 


PERIOD  II.  — 884  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 


and,  on  ns"ng  up,  perceived,  by  the  faint  light  which  descended  from 
above,  a  fox  busily  engaged  in  gnawing  the  dead  bodies  of  his  com 
panions. 


Aristomenes  escaping  from  the  cavern. 

10.  Cautiously  approaching,  he  seized  the  animal  by  the  tail,  and 
follow* d  it,  in  its  efforts  to  escape,  through  the  darkness,'until  it  made 
its  way  to  the  exterior  by  a  small  opening.  With  a  little  exertion, 
Aristomenes  widened  this  hole  sufficiently  to  allow  his  body  to  pasa 
through,  and  thus  escaped  to  his  own  country,  where  he  was  wel- 
comed back  with  great  joy. 

11.  The  same  Aristomenes  defended  the  fortress  of  Ira  for  eleven 
years  against  the  Lacedaemonians,  but  was  at  last  overcome  through 
treachery,  and  obliged  to  abandon  the  place.  After  various  adven- 
tures, perceiving  that  it  was  useless  to  offer  further  resistance  to  the 
conquering  Spartans,  he  retired  to  th6  island  of  Rhodes,  where  he 
married  the  daughter  of  a  chief,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days 
in  ease  and  quiet. 

12.  A  numerous  body  of  the  Messenians,  unwilling  to  submit  a 
second  time  to  Sparta,  abandoned  their  country,  and  colonized  Messina, 

iate  the  story  of  Aristomenes.     11.  What  of  the  fortress  of  Ira  ?     What  did  Aristomene? 
do  at  length? 

12.  What  became  of  those  Messenians  who  left  Sparta  ?  Of  those  who  remained  7 
When  did  the  Second  Messenian  War  end? 


TROUBLES  IN  ATHENS.  — DRACO'S  CODE.  119 

on  the  coast  of  Sicily.  The  remainder  of  the  inhabitants  were  reduced 
t,i  the  condition  of  Helots,  or  slaves.  Thus  ended  the  Second  Mtsse- 
nian  War,  670  B.  C. 


CHAPTER    XLVIII. 

Troubles  in  Athens.  —  Draco's  Code. 

1.  While  Sparta,  under  the  influence  of  the  institutions  of  Lycur- 
gus,  was  increasing  its  power  and  extending  its  dominions,  Athens 
was  agitated  by  the  perpetual  disputes  and  intrigues  of  domestic  fac- 
tions, and  a  prey  to  all  the  evils  of  oligarchical  oppression  on  the  one 
hand,  and  popular  violence  and  disorder  on  the  other. 

2.  Dissatisfied  with  the  form  of  government  established  after  the 
death  of  Codrus,  the  Athenians  had,  about  three  centuries  after  that 
event,  (754  B.  C.,)  abolished  the  hereditary  succession  to  the  archon- 
ship,  rendering  the  officer  elective,  and  limiting  its  tenure  by  individu- 
als to  a  period  of  ten  years. 

3.  In  the  year  G83  B.  C,  another  important  change  was  effected 
Instead  of  one  archon,  nine  were  appointed,  and  it  was  provided  that 
they  should,  in  future,  be  elected  annually.  The  first  of  these  magis- 
trates was  at  the  head  of  the  executive  government,  and  was  gener- 
ally styled,  by  way  of  eminence,  the  Archon;  the  second  was  honored 
with  the  title  of  King,  and  was  considered  as  the  guardian  and  high 
priest  of  the  state  religion. 

4.  The  third,  who  was  designated  the  Polemarch,  was  the  director 
of  the  war  department ;  and  the  rest  of  the  archons  officiated  as  presi- 
dents in  the  courts  of  law,  and  together  with  the  three  first  mentioned, 
constituted  the  supreme  council  of  the  state. 

5.  As  crimes  and  disorders  still  continued  to  abound,  Draco,  a  man. 
of  probity,  but  of  a  stern  and  rigid  disposition,  being  elected  archon, 
(623  B.  C.,)  undertook  the  task  of  reforming  the  Athenian  institutions, 
and  enacted  a  code  of  laws  so  extravagantly  severe,  that  they  were 
aptly  described  as  having  been  "  written  in  blood." 

6.  To  even  the  most  trifling  offences  he  attached  the  punishment 
of  death  ;  and  when  asked  his  reason  for  such  excessive  rigor,  he  re- 
plied that  he  thought  the  smallest  crimes  deserved  death,  and  he  could 
find  no  severer  penalty  for  the  greatest. 

7.  The  severity  of  his  laws  had  no  other  effect  than  to  render  them 
inoperative,  as  all  over  rigorous  statutes  must  necessarily  be.  Men 
were  unwilling  to  prosecute  any  but  the  greatest  criminals  ;  and  the 
consequence  was,  that  almost  all  offenders  escaped  unpunished,  and 
were  thereby  encouraged  to  persevere  in  their  improper  courses. 

XLVIII.  —  1.  Wliat  was  the  situation  of  Athens  at  this  time?  2.  What  change  hid 
the  Athenians  made  in  the  office  of  archon  ?  At  what  time  did  they  make  this  change 7 
3,  4.  What  was  the  next  change  effected  ?  How  many  archons  were  appointed?  WliM 
was  the  title  and  duty  of  each? 

5.  What  of  Draco?  When  was  he  elected  archon?  What  was  said  of  his  lawa  J 
I    Whit  was  lus  only  punishment?    7.  What  was  the  effect  of  this  severity) 


120  PERIOD  IL  — S34  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 

8.  At  the  same  time,  the  factious  contests,  which  had  always  beer 
the  greatest  evil  of  Athens,  became  more  frequent  and  more  fierce. 
Three  parties  existed  in  the  community.  The  first,  consisting  of  the 
population- of  the  mountainous  parts  of  Attica,  was  friendly  to  democ- 
racy, or  a  government  in  which  the  people  are  the  ruling  power. 
The  second,  composed  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys,  favored  oli- 
garchy, or  a  government  in  which  all  power  is  deposited  in  the  hands 
of  a  few  privileged  individuals.  And  the  'bird  party,  consisting  of  the 
dwellers  on  the  sea-coast,  preferred  a  mixed  constitution,  combining  the 
oligarchical  and  democratical  principles. 

9.  Another  element  of  confusion,  at  this  unhappy  period,  was  found 
in  the  hostile  feeling  which  had  sprung  up  between  the  rich  and  the 
poor.  Some  of  the  citizens  had  amassed  great  wealth,  while  the 
mass  of  the  people  had  sunk  into  abject  poverty,  and  were,  for  the 
most  part,  loaded  with  burdens,  which  their  extravagance  had  entailed 
on  them,  and  which  they  had  no  reasonable  prospect  of  ever  being 
able  to  discharge. 

10.  This  state  of  things  was  rendered  more  distressing  by  the  exist- 
ence of  a  cruel  law,  which  empowered  a  creditor  to  seize  on  the  per- 
son of  his  debtor,  and  retain  him,  or  even  sell  him  as  a  slave. 

11.  The  rich  were  but  too  apt  to  take  advantage  of  this  statute,  and 
Aie  minds  of  the  poor  were,  in  consequence,  excited  to  such  a  pitch 
of  exasperation,  that  a  general  insurrection  of  the  lower  classes  seemed 
to  be  upon  the  very  eve  of  breaking  out  in  Athens. 


CHAPTER   XLIX. 

Solon's  Reform. 

1 .  In  this  dangerous  posture  of  affairs,  it  appeared  to  the  most  judi- 
cious men  of  all  parties  that  Solon,  a  descendant  of  the  patriotic  mon- 
arch Codrus,  and  a  person  of  great  wisdom,  talents,  and  virtues,  was 
the  only  individual  who  had  ability  and  influence  sufficient  to  compose 
.he  unhappy  differences  which  existed,  and  to  avert  the  calamities 
with  which  the  state  was  menaced. 

2.  His  justice,  moderation  and  kindness,  endeared  him  to  the  poor, 
and  the  rich  were  favorably  disposed  towards  him,  because  he  belonged 
to  their  own  class,  so  that  he  possessed  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
all. 

3.  By  many  influential  persons  he  was  encouraged  to  aspire  to,  or 
rather  was  solicited  to  assume,  regal  power,  that  he  might  be  enabled 
the  more  effectually  to  repress  turbulence,  control  faction,  and  compei 

8.  What  of  the  contests  between  the  factions  at  Athens?  What  three  paties  were 
there?  What  mode  of  government  lihl  each  of  these  parties  prefer?  9.  What  othd 
cause  of  confusion  was  then}  ?     What  of  the  wealth  and  poverty  of  the  citizens  ? 

10.  What  power  had  a  creditor  over  a  debtor  ?  11.  Did  the  rich  take  advantage  of  this 
law?     What  seemed  upon  the  point  of  taking  place? 

XLIX.  —  1.  What  of  Solon?  Who  was  he?  2.  How  did  the  poor  feel  towards  him  ? 
The  rich?    3.  What  was  he  advised  to  do?    Did  ho  follow  the  advice?    4.  To  wha 


SOLON'S  REFORM. 


121 


nubmission  to  those  laws  which  he  might  find  it  neeessary  to  enact 
but  this  advice  he  firmly  and  perseveringly  declined  to  follow 


Solon. 

4.  Being,  however,  almost  unanimously  chosen  archon,  with  spe 
cial  powers  to  remodel  the  institutions  of  the  state,  Solon,  after  some 
hesitation,  accepted  the  office. 

5.  Solon  was  a  native  of  the  island  of  Salamis.  His  father,  Ex- 
ecestides,  although  of  distinguished  rank,  was  possessed  of  only  a 
very  moderate  share  of  wealth,  and  Solon  found  it  necessary  to  devote 
a  considerable  portion  of  his  youth  to  mercantile  pursuits,  in  order  to 
gain  for  himself  a  competent  fortune. 

6.  This  was,  unquestionably,  rather  fortunate  than  otherwise  fot 
the  future  legislator,  as,  by  leading  him  to  visit  foreign  countries,  it 
afforded  him  the  best  opportunities  of  studying  men  and  manners,  and 
comparing  the  various  systems  of  civil  and  political  economy  which 
then  existed  throughout  the  world. 

7.  It  was  in  the  course  of  these  mercantile  expeditions  that  he  is 
said  to  have  met  and  conferred  with  the  six  eminent  individuals,  who, 
together  with  himself,  received  the  honorable  title  of  the  Seven  Wise 
Men  of  Greece,  of  whom  we  shall  hereafter  give  an  account. 

8.  Solon  was  a  poet  as  well  as  a  sage,  and  it  was  in  the  former  of 
.hese  characters  that  he  made  his  first  public  appearance  in  Athens. 
At  that  time  the  Athenians  had  been  engaged  in  a  long  contest  with 
the  Megarensians  for  the  possession  of  Salamis,  but,  having  become 
weary  of  so  protracted  a  struggle,  they  had  passed  a  law,  that  who- 
ever should  counsel  the  renewal  of  the  war  for  the  recovery  of  Sala- 
mis, should  be  put  to  death. 

9.  It  was  not  long,  however,  till  they  began  to  wish  for  the  abioga- 

office  waa  he  chosen  ?  What  special  powers  were  given  him?  Did  he  accept  the  office? 
5.  Where  was  Solon  born  ?  What  of  his  father  ?  To  what  pursuit  did  Solon  devote  his 
youth  ?  6.  Of  what  advantage  was  this  to  him?  7.  What  title  was  given  to  him  and 
six  oilier  eminent  individuals? 

8.    In  what  character  did  Solon  make  his  first  public  appearance  in  Athens?    What »»! 
U*e  war  in  regard  to  Salamis  ?     What  law  had  been  passed  in  relation  to  this  war? 
II 


|gg  PERIOD  11.  — 384  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C 

tinn  of  this  law.  though  fear  of  the  penalty  which  it  denounced  pre- 
vented everyone  from  proposing  its  repeal.  In  this  state  of  things, 
Solon  ingeniously  devised  a  method  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  effect 
the  desired  object  without  injury  to  himself. 

10.  He  for  some  time  counterfeited  insanity  with  so  much  success, 
that  he  deceived  even  personal  friends,  and  having  composed  a  poem 
on  the  subject  of  the  war  of  Salamis,  he  one  day  rushed  to  the  mar- 
ket-place, and  with  frantic  gestures  recited  his  verses  in  the  hearing 
of  the  assembled  people. 

11.  The  citizens  had  at  first  gathered  round  him  out  of  curiosity, 
but,  inflamed  by  what  they  heard,  and  stimulated  by  some  confidential 
friends  of  Solon  who  were  present,  they  not  only  repealed  the  pro- 
hibitory law,  but  voted  another  expedition  against  Salamis,  and  ap- 
pointed Solon  as  its  commander.  The  result  fully  justified  their 
choice,  for  the  new  leader  very  soon  reduced  the  Salaminians  to  their 
former  subjection  to  Athens. 

12.  Such  were  some  of  the  early  achievements  of  Solon,  but  they 
were  thrown  far  into  the  shade  by  his  subsequent  labors  as  a  legisla- 
tor. As  the  most  immediate  danger  to  which  the  state  was  exposed 
arose  from  the  discontent  of  the  poor,  he  commenced  by  adopting 
measures  for  improving  the  condition  of  this  improvident,  but  op- 
pressed and  suffering  class. 

13.  He  cancelled  all  their  debts,  and  decreed  that  in  future  no 
creditor  should  be  permitted  to  enslave  his  insolvent  debtor.  He 
seems  to  have  been  well  aware  that  nothing  short  of  absolute  neces- 
sity could  justify  the  first  of  these  measures,  for  he  afterwards  ordered 
that  the  members  of  the  Heliaa,  or  popular  court  of  justice,  should  take 
an  oath  that  they  would  never  acquiesce  in  any  proposal  of  another 
abolition  of  debts. 

14.  Still  further  to  relieve  the  poor,  he  arbitrarily  reduced  the  rate 
of  interest,  that  they  might  obtain  money  on  loan  on  easy  terms  — 
another  step. justifiable  only  by  the  emergency. 


CHAPTER    L. 

Solon's  Code,  continued. 

1 .  Solon  next  repealed  the  whole  of  Draco's  sanguinary  criminal 
code,  with  the  exception  of  the  law  which  declared  murder  a  capital 
offence,  and  substituted  penalties  of  a  milder  description.  He  then 
proceeded  to  remodel  the  political  and  judicial  institutions  of  Athens. 

2.  Theseus  had  distinguished  the  citizens  into  three  classes,  but 

9,  10,  11.  How  did  Solon  erade  this  law?  What  was  the  result?  12.  How  do  these 
achievements  of  Solon  compare  with  his  later  actions?  WhajL  was  the  most  immediate 
danger? 

13.  How  did  he  improve  their  condition?  What  does  tye  seem  to  tjave  thought  of thesa 
measures?  What  oath  did  the  members  of  the  Helisea  take?  What  measures  did  he 
take  in  regard  to  the  rate  of  interest  ? 

!**»•>.  What  did  Solon  do  to  Praco's  code  ?    2.  How  did  he  alter  Theseus'  diyjaion  of 


SOLON'S  CODE.  12? 

Solon  divided  them  into  four,  according  to  the  amount  of  then  annua* 
income. 

3.  The  two  highest  or  aristocratical  classes  were  afterwards  known 
by  the  name  of  knights,  (or  horsemen,  according  to  a  more  literal 
translation,)  from  the  circumstance  of  their  being  required  to  serve  as 
cavalry  in  time  of  war,  while  the  two  inferior  classes  fought  on  foot. 

4.  Persons  belonging  to  the  first  or  highest  class  were  alone  eligi- 
ble to  the  principal  places  in  the  magistracy,  and  the  members  of  the 
fourth  or  poorest  class  were  wholly  excluded  from  even  the  lowest 
offices.  The  general  assembly  of  the  citizens  was  declared  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  absolute  and  unlimited  political  power;  but  to  balance,  in 
some  degree,  this  democratical  institution,  Solon  established  a  council 
of  state,  and  restored  the  ancient  and  aristocratical  court  of  Areopagus. 

5.  The  Council  of  State  consisted  of  four  hundred  members,  one 
hundred  of  whom  were  taken  by  lot  from  each  of  the  four  wards  into 
which  Attica  was  divided.  When  the  wards  were  afterwards  increased 
to  ten,  each  ward  returned  fifty  members,  forming  altogether  a  council 
of  five  hundred. 

6.  These  councillors  were  chosen  for  one  year  only,  and  on  them 
was  conferred  the  privilege  of  originating  and  preparing  all  legislative 
measures,  which  were  afterwards  discussed  and  decided  upon  by  the 
genera]  assembly  of  the  citizens. 

7.  The  court  of  Areopagus,  as  reestablished  by  Solon,  consisted 
of  those  individuals  who  had  worthily  discharged  the  duties  of  the 
archonship.  Its  members  held  their  offices  for  life,  and  its  jurisdiction 
as  a  criminal  tribunal  was  paramount  and  very  extensive.  Besides  its 
other  duties,  it  exercised  a  censorship  over  public  morals,  and  was 
empowered  to  punish  impiety,  profligacy,  and  even  idleness. 

8.  To  this  court  every  citizen  was  bound  to  make  an  annual  state- 
ment of  his  income,  and  the  sources  from  which  it  was  derived.  In  its 
judicial  capacity  it  held  its  sittings  during  the  night  and  without  lights, 
and  those  who  conducted  the  accusation  or  the  defence  of  individuals 
brought  before  it,  were  forbidden  to  make  use  of  oratorical  declama- 
tion, and  obliged  to  give  only  plain  statements  of  facts. 

9.  This  court  was  long  regarded  with  very  great  respect,  and  the 
right  was  accorded  to  it  not  only  of  revising  the  sentences  pronounced 
by  the  other  criminal  tribunals,  but  even  of  annulling  the  judicial  de- 
crees of  the  general  assembly  of  the  people. 

10.  The  judicial  powers  which  had  previously  been  possessed 
by  the  archons,  were  by  Solon  transferred  to  a  popularly  constituted 
court,  named  the  Heliaa,  which  consisted  of  no  less  than  six  thousand 
jurors,  and  was  sometimes  subdivided  into  ten  inferior  courts,  with  six 
hundred  jurors  in  each. 

the  people?  3.  By  wliat  name  were  the  two  highest  classes  called?  Why  were  they  so 
called  ?  4  What  of  these  classes  ?  What  of  the  assembly  of  the  people  ?  What  coun- 
cil did  he  establish? 

5.  Of  what  did  the  Council  of  State  consist?  When  the  wards  were  increased  to  ten. 
what  was  done?  6.  For  what  period  were  the  councillors  chosen?  What  were  their  priv- 
ileges? 7.  What  of  the  court  of  Areopagus,  as  established  by  Solon?  What  censorship 
did  it  exercise  ? 

8.  What  statement  was  every  citizen  bound  to  make  to  this  court  ?  What  of  its  judi- 
cial capacity  ?    9.  How  was  this  court  regarded?     What  right  waa  accorded  to  ft'1 

10.  What  was  the  Helisea?    Of  what  did  it  consist?     11.  What  ciuses  v\ere  these 


124  PERIOD   Fl.  —  884  13.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 

11.  Six  of  these  courts  were  for  civil,  and  four  for  criminal  causes. 
Every  citizen  above  thirty  years  of  age,  and  not  laboring  under  any 
legal  disqualification,  was  eligible  as  a  member  or  juror  of  the  Heliaea. 
A  small  pay  was  allowed  to  the  jurors  during  their  attendance  in 
court. 

12.  In  some  of  the  other  enactments  of  Solon  we  find  evidence  that 
he  did  not  altogether  escape  the  error,  into  which  so  many  lawgivers 
have  fallen,  of  imagining  the  true  province  of  legislation  to  be  much 
more  extensive  than  it  really  is,  and  of  endeavoring,  by  penal  statutes, 
to  effect  reforms  which  can  omy  be  properly  brought  about  by  moral 
agencies. 

13.  In  order  to  prevent  indifference  respecting  the  public  welfare, 
he  decreed  that  whoever  remained  neutral  in  civil  contests  should  be 
punished  with  forfeiture  of  property,  and  banishment  from  Athens. 
To  restrain  female  extravagance  and  ostentation,  he  placed  the  women 
under  strict  regulations  as  to  their  dress  and  behavior  on  public  occa- 
sions. 

14.  He  declared  idleness  punishable,  and  ordained  that  those 
parents  who  neglected  to  train  up  their  offspring  to  some  trade  or 
profession,  should  have  no  title,  in  their  old  age,  to  look  to  those  chil- 
dren for  succor  and  support.  He  prohibited  speaking  evil  of  the  dead, 
and  imposed  a  fine  on  those  who  publicly  reviled  the  living.  To  dis- 
courage mercenary  marriages,  he  directed  that  no  father  should  give 
any  dowry  to  his  daughters. 


CHAPTER   LI. 

Solon's  Travels. 

1.  Having  finished  his  labors,  Solon  caused  the  Athenians  to  prom- 
ise that  they  would  not  abrogate  or  impair  any  of  his  enactments  for  a 
hundred  years.  Being  afterwards  much  annoyed  by  officious  persons, 
who  called  upon  him  to  suggest  alterations,  which  they  conceived 
would  be  improvements  upon  his  laws,  he  resolved  to  withdraw  from 
Athens  till  the  people  should  have  had  time  to  become  acquainted 
with,  and  attached  to,  his  institutions. 

2.  Having  obtained  the  consent  of  the  Athenians  to  his  spending 
ten  years  in  foreign  travel,  and  bound  them  by  an  oath  to  preserve  his 
statutes  unaltered  till  his  return,  he  sailed  to  Egypt,  where  he  had 
many  conversations  on  philosophical  subjects  with  the  learned  men 
and  priests  of  that  ancient  kingdom. 

courts  for?  What  persons  were  eligible  as  members  of  this  court?  What  pay  was  al- 
lowed? 

12.  Into  what  error  did  Solon  fall?  13.  How  did  he  prevent  indifference  in  public 
affairs?  How  did  he  restrain  female  ostentation?  14.  What  about  idleness?  Speak 'tng 
evil  of  the  dead  ?    Slander?    Mercenary  marriages? 

LI.  —  1.  What  promise  did  Solon  cause  the  Athenians  to  make  ?  Why  did  he  resolve 
to  ieave  Athens?  2.  To  what  place  did  he  first  sail?  What  conversations  did  he  have* 
%  What  did  he  do  in  the  island  of  Cyprus  ? 


SOLON'S  TRAVELS. 


25 


3.  He  afterwards  visited  the  island  of  Cyprus,  where  he  assisted  a 
petty  king,  named  Philocyprus,  to  plan  out  and  construct  a  city  which, 
on  account  of  the  share  which  the  lawgiver  of  Athens  had  in  its  erec- 
tion, received  the  name  of  Soli. 

4.  After  quitting  Cyprus,  Solon  is  said  to  have  proceeded  to  Sardis, 
Vhe  cnpital  of  Lydia,  in  Asia  Minor,  on  a  visit  to  Croesus,  a  king  of 


mm 

m  r 


m 


Solon  before  Crams. 


tnat  country,  who  was  celebrated  for  his  wealth  and  splendor,  and 
who  has  given  rise  to  a  proverb  in  use  among  us. 

5.  This  monarch  made  an  ostentatious  display  of  his  magnificence 
before  Solon,  and  asked  him  if  he  had  ever  seen  anything  finer  than 
the  royal  personage  in  whose  presence  he  was.  "  Yes,"  answered 
the  Athenian  sage,  "  cocks,  pheasants,  and  peacocks  are  finer,  for 
their  ornaments  are  their  own,  but  yours  are  borrowed." 

6.  Being  then  asked  if  he  had  ever  seen  a  happier  man  than  Croe- 
sus, he  replied  in  the  affirmative ;  and  added,  that  so  great  were  the 
vicissitudes  of  human  affairs,  "  that  no  man  could  properly  be  called 
happy  before  his  death." 

t.  Where  did  Solon  proceed  next?  Who  was  Croesus?  For  what  was  he  celebrated? 
5,  6.  What  questions  did  he  ask  Solon?  What  answers  did  Solon  make?  7,  8  9.  R» 
latp  what  happened  between  Crnesus  and  Cvrus 

*!" 


26  PERIOD  n.  — 884  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 

7.  Croesus  was  displeased  at  these  answers,  but  it  is  said  tha  he 
afterwards  bore  a  striking-  testimony  to  their  correctness.  Having 
been  dethroned  by  Cyrus  the  Persian,  and  being  about  to  be  burnt  at 
the  stake  by  order  of  that  prince,  the  unfortunate  King  of  Lydia  could 
not  help  exclaiming  aloud,  "  Solon  !  Solon  !" 

8.  When  asked  to  explain  the  meaning  of  his  exclamation,  he  said 
that  the  name  he  had  pronounced  was  that  of  one  of  the  Seven  Wise 
Men  of  Greece,  who  had  once  told  him  that  no  man  could  be  called 
happy  before  his  death  —  "  a  truth,"  added  Croesus,  "  which  my  own 
fate  too  strongly  confirms." 

9.  It  is  added  that  Cyrus,  on  hearing  of  these  words,  was  led  to 
reflect  on  what  might  possibly  be  his  own  fate,  and  not  only  spared 
the  life  of  the  unfortunate  king,  but  took  him  into  special  favor,  and 
was  kind  to  him  ever  afterwards. 


CHAPTER  LTI. 

Solon's  Return. —  Usurpation  of  Pisistratus. 

1.  Long  before  the  end  of  the  ten  years  for  which  Solon  had  ob- 
tained leave  of  absence,  Athens  had  again  become  a  scene  of  party 
strife  ;  the  old  factions  of  the  mountains,  the  valleys  and  the  coast,  hav- 
ing renewed  their  struggles  for  political  ascendency  ;  so  that,  although 
his  laws  were  still  nominally  observed,  Solon  found,  on  his  return, 
that  everything  was  falling,  into  confusion. 

2.  The  republican  constitution  was  also  exposed  to  danger  from  the 
ambitious  intrigues  of  a  relation  of  his  own,  named  Pisistratus,  who 
had  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  mountain  or  democratic  party, 
and,  by  his  bland  and  conciliatory  manners,  his  assumed  moderation, 
and  pretended  zeal  for  the  rights  of  the  poor,  had  acquired  great  influ- 
ence with  the  people. 

3.  Solon,  who  understood  his  kinsman's  real  character,  and  pene- 
trated his  intentions,  endeavored,  but  without  success,  to  induce  him 
to  relinquish  his  interested  projects.  At  length  Pisistratus,  having,  it 
is  said,  wounded  himself  with  his  own  hand,  appeared  one  day  in  the 
place  of  assembly,  covered  with  blood,  and  accused  his  political  oppo- 
nents of  having  attacked  and  maltreated  him.  He  added,  that,  as  he 
perceived  no  friend  of  the  poor  could  live  with  safety  in  Athens,  he 
would  quit  Attica,  unless  the  people  allowed  him  to  adopt  measures 
for  his  own  protection. 

4.  The  people,  indignant  at  the  outrage  supposed  to  have  been 
committed  on  the  person  of  their  favorite,  immediately  voted  him  a 
body-guard  of  fifty  men,  notwithstanding  the  earnest  dissuasion  of 
Solon,  who  was  present,  and  who  plainly  peiceived  that  they  were 

Lll.  — 1.  What  was  the  state  of  Athens  before  Solon's  return  ?  2.  What  of  Pisistra- 
tus ?  How  had  be  acquired  influence?  3.  What  did  Solon  attempt  to  do?  What  is 
Pisistratus  said  to  have  done  ? 

4.  What  protection  did  the  people  vote  him?     What  did  Solon  think  of  this  rreasure? 


USURPATION  OF  PISISTRATUS.  ]27 

furnishing  Pisistratus  with  arms  which  would  he  speedily  turned 
against  themselves. 

5.  Nor  did  Solon  err  in  his  opinion  ;  for  the  artful  Pisistratus,  hav- 
ing gradually  increased  the  number  of  his  guards  til  they  amounted 
to  a  corps  of  considerable  strength,  suddenly  seized  upon  the  Acropo- 
lis, or  citadel  of  Athens.  Roused  to  a  sense  of  danger,  the  supporters 
of  the  constitution  made  a  fierce  resistance,  but  Pisistratus  overcame 
all  opposition,  and  established  himself  sovereign  ruler,  or,  as  he  was 
properly  called,  tyrant  of  Athens,  (560  B.  C.) 

6.  In  reference  to  this  appellation,  however,  it  is  proper  to  men- 
lion,  that  the  ancient  Greeks  used  the  word  tyrant  in  a  somewhat 
different  sense  from  that  now  attached  to  it.  They  gave  that  epithet 
to  every  ruler  who  usurped  or  even  accepted  regal  authority  in  a  pre- 
viously republican  state,  however  mildly  and  justly  he  might  after- 
wards administer  the  laws ;  and,  accordingly,  Pisistratus  was  styled  a 
tyrant,  although  it  is  recorded  that  his  sway  was  botr  merciful  and 
enlightened. 

7.  After  he  had  fully  established  himself  in  poAer,  instead  of 
avenging  himself  on  Solon  for  the  opposition  which  the  patriotic  sage 
had  perseveringly  offered  to  his  designs,  Pisistratus  treated  his  kins- 
man with  the  greatest  kindness  and  respect,  and  maintained  and  en- 
forced his  laws. 

8.  But  although  the  venerable  legislator  did  i.ot  permit  his  disap- 
probation of  what  had  passed  to  prevent  him  from  giving  his  aspiring 
relative  that  advice  and  assistance  which  the  latter  solicited  in  several 
of  his  undertakings,  Solon  could  never  be  reconciled  to  the  subversion 
of  the  constitution  of  his  country. 

9.  Withdrawing,  therefore,  once  more  from  Athens,  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  days  in  voluntary  exile,  and  died,  it  is  said,  in  the 
island  of  Cyprus,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age.  The  Athenians, 
in  testimony  of  the  respect  they  entertained  for  his  memory,  after- 
wards erected  his  statue  in  the  agora,  or  place  of  assembly,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  his  native  Salamis  paid  him  a  similar  honor. 

10.  Pisistratus  continued  to  administer  the  Athenian  government 
with  moderation  and  ability,  and  also  honorably  distinguished  himself 
by  his  patronage  of  literature  and  the  fine  arts.  The  first  public 
library  was  established  by  him,  and,  as  already  mentioned,  he  caused 
the  poems  of  Homer  to  be  collected  and  written  out  in  a  complete 
form.  He  adorned  Athens  with  many  elegant  public  buildings,  and 
formed,  for  the  first  time,  public  gardens  for  the  convenience  of  the 
citizens. 

5.  What  was  the  next  step  of  Pisistratus?  What  resistance  was  made  ?  Did  Pisistratus 
succeed  ?     What  was  the  date  of  this  ? 

6.  What  may  he  said  of  tlie  Greek  word  tyrant  ?  7.  How  did  Pisistratus  treat  Solon  ' 
8.  Did  Solon  give  Pisistratus  advice?  Did  he  ever  become  reconciled  to  the  change  in 
the  constitution  ? 

9.  Where  die  he  die?  What  mark  of  respect  was  paid  to  him  by  the  Athenians? 
The  Salaniinians?  10.  How  did  Pisistratus  administer  the  Athenian  government?  WIkM 
nf  i  he  works  of  Homer  ?    What  public  works  did  he  encourage  ? 


I2S 


PERIOD  II.  -  SS4  B.  C.  TO  493  R  ti 


CHAPTER    LIII. 

Hippias  and  Hipparckus. 


N   titfitwt 


Death  of  Hipparckus. 

1.  Upon  the  death  of  Pisistratus  hit  Iwo  sons,  Hippias  and  IJij>- 
parchus,  succeeded  to  his  authority,  and  like  their  father,  governed 
for  a  time  with  mildness  and  liberality.  Like  him,  they  befriended 
learning,  and  by  their  munificent  encouragement  of  men  of  genius, 
they  induced  the  eminent  poets,  Anacreon  and  Simonides,  to  take  up 
their  residence  at  Athens. 

2.  Such,  in  short,  was  the  prosperity  enjoyed  by  the  Athenians 
during  the  joint  administration  of  these  brothers,  and  such  was  the 
progress  then  made  in  civilization  and  refinement,  tbat  a  discerning 


LIII.  —  1.  What  of  Hippias  and  Hipparchus?    What  of  their  government  ?    Anacreon 
aid  Simonides  ?    2.  What  has  this  age  been  called?     3.  How  did  the  reign  of  H>onar- 


rilPPIAS  AND  H1PPARCHUS. 


l^J 


philosopher  of  antiquity  has  referred  to  that  period  as  another  golder, 
age. 

3.  Wisely  and  well  as  Hippias  and  Hipparchus  governed  Athens, 
their  reign  was  but  short,  and  its  close  sudden  and  violent.  An  insult 
or  slight  offered  by  Hipparchus  to  the  sister  of  an  Athenian,  named 
Harmodius,  so  much  exasperated  the  latter,  that  he  resolved  to  attempt 
the  destruction  of  both  of  the  sons  of  Pisistratus.  Accordingly,  assisted 
by  a  friend,  named  Aristogiton,  he  assaulted  and  killed  Hipparchui 
at  the  festival  of  Panathenaea  ;  but  in  the  tumult  which  ensued,  th 
layer  himself  perished      (514  B.  C.) 


Ltona  tortured. 


4.  After  this  event,  Hippias,  alarmed  for  his  own  safety,  became 
suspicious  and  severe,  and  now,  for  the  first  time,  acted  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  merit  the  name  of  tyrant,  in  the  worst  signification  of 
the  word.  His  state  of  mind  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  order  to 
discover  some  secret  connected  with  the  death  of  his  brother,  he  caused 
a  lady  by  the  name  of  Leona  to  be  put  to  the  torture.     She  remained 

chus  end  1    What  of  his  death  1    4.   What  was  the  effect  upen  Hippias  1    What  of 
i*eona' 

9 


13G  PERIOD  II.— 834  B.C.  TO  493  B.  C 

firm,  however,  and,  in  the  midst  of  her  agony,  bit  off  her  tongue  and 
spit  it  in  the  face  of  the  tyrant.  Thus  she  died,  refusing  to  make  the 
desired  disclosure. 

5.  To  escape  the  oppressions  of  Hippias,  many  influential  persons 
now  quitted  Athens,  and  afterwards,  assisted  by  the  Lacedaemonians, 
in  obedience  to  the  command  of  the  Delphic  oracle,  entered  Attica  in 
force,  and  laid  siege  to  Athens. 

6.  They  succeeded,  after  a  time,  in  compelling  Hippias  to  abdicate 
his  authority  and  retire  to  Ligeum,  an  Athenian  colony  on  the  Helle- 
spont, which  had  been  established  by  his  father,  Pisistratus,  (510 
B.C.) 

7.  The  republican  form  of  government,  as  constituted  by  Solon, 
was  now  reestablished,  and  the  memory  of  Harmodius  and  Aristogi- 
ton,  who  had  been  the  first  to  draw  the  sword  against  the  subverters 
of  the  constitution,  was  ever  after  held  in  great  veneration  by  the 
Athenians.  Their  praises  were  recorded  in  verses,  which  were  regu- 
larly chanted  at  some  of  the  public  festivals. 

8.  Clisthenes,  the  leader  of  the  party  who  had  expelled  Hippias, 
rendered  the  Athenian  constitution  still  more  democratical,  by  obtain- 
ing decrees  for  the  admission  of  foreign  residents  to  the  rights  of 
citizenship  on  easier  terms  than  formerly. 

9.  He  also  introduced  the  ostracism,  by  which  any  person  might 
be  banished  for  ten  years  without  being  accused  of  any  crime,  if  the 
Athenians  apprehended  that  he  had  acquired  too  much  influence,  oi 
harbored  designs  against  the  public  liberty. 

10.  This  sentence  was  called  ostracism,  because  the  citizens,  in 
voting  for  its  infliction,  wrote  the  name  of  the  obnoxious  individual 
upon  a  tile,  (ostrakon.)  It  is  said  that  Clisthenes  was  the  first  victim 
of  his  own  law,  as  has  chanced  in  several  other  remarkable  cases. 


CHAPTER    LIV. 

Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Greeks.  —  Dress.  —  The 
Women. 

1.  The  Greeks,  as  we  have  stated,  were  a  finely  formed  race,  and 
their  women  were  in  general  very  beautiful.  Dark  complexions  and 
black  hair  and  eyes  were  the  characteristics  of  the  Grecian  face.  Ir. 
disposition  they  were,  with  the  exception  of  the  Spartans,  lively, 
ardent,  volatile,  and  fond  of  gay  and  showy  amusements. 

2.  They  possessed  some  of  the  higher  gifts  of  mind  in  a  degree 
which   has   been   excelled    by  no   other  nation.     Hence   the   great 

5.  How  did  many  persons  escape  the  oppression  of  Hippias?  What  did  they  after- 
wards do?  6.  What  was  Hippias  compelled  to  do?  7.  What  of  the  republican  form 
of  government  ?     How  was  the  memory  of  Harmodius  and  Aristoeiton  regarded? 

8.  Who  was  Clisthenes?  How  did  he  alter  the  Athenian  constitution  ?  9.  What  of 
ostracism  ?     10.   Why  was  it  so  called?     Who  was  the  first  victim  of  this  law? 

LIV.  —  1.  What  was  the  appearance  of  the  Greeks  ?    "\  heii  disposition  ?    2.  What  of 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  ANCIENT  GREEKS. 


131 


advances  which  they  made  in  philosophy,  in  the  science  of  govern 
nient,  in  elegant  literature,  and  in  the  arts  of  sculpture,  painting,  and 
architecture.  Many  of  their  works  of  art  are  still  models  throughout 
the  civilized  world. 


Grecian  vase. 


3.  As  the  climate  of  Greece  is  one  of  the  mildest  and  most  agree- 
able in  the  world,  the  dress  of  the  people  was  light  and  simple,  being 
rather  intended  as  a  graceful  covering  for  the  body  than  as  a  defence 
against  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather. 

4.  The  men  wore  a  loose  linen  or  woollen  garment,  called  a  tunic, 
which  descended  to  the  middle  of  the  leg,  and  over  this  they  threw  a 
mantle.  Anciently  they  went  with  their  heads  uncovered,  but  at  a 
later  period  they  used  flapped  hats,  which  were  tied  under  the  chin. 
On  their  feet  they  wore  shoes  or  sandals,  bound  with  thongs. 

5.  The  dress  of  the  women  consisted  of  a  white  tunic  of  linen  ot 
woollen,  which  was  bound  at  the  waist  by  a  broad  sash,  and  descended 
in  flowing  folds  to  the  heels.  Above  this  they  wore  a  shorter  robe, 
generally  saffron-colored,  which  was  confined  at  the  waist  by  a  broad 

their  attainments  in  philosophy,  &c.  ?     3.    What  of  the  climate?    Dress?    4.   What 
was  the  tunic?    What  was  the  more  ancient  dress?    5.   What  was  the  dress  of  the 


13^#  PERIOD  II. —  884  B.C.   TO  493  B.C. 

ribbon      Both  of  these  garments  were  bordered  at  the  bottom  by  an 
edging-  different  in  color 


GftcttiM  pus*. 

6.  They  braided  and  curled  their  hair  in  a  very  tasteful  manner, 
and  set  it  off  with  golden  grasshoppers.  They  wore  ear-rings  and 
bracelets  of  gold,  and  in  the  times  of  Athenian  luxury  and  splendor, 
the  ladies  of  Athens  used  to  paint  their  cheeks  and  eyebrows,  sprinkle 
their  hair  with  yellow-colored  powder,  and  wreathe  their  heads  with 
flowers.  When  they  went  out  of  doors  they  always  covered  their 
faces  with  a  veil. 

7.  The  Greeks  kept  their  women  in  a  state  of  seclusion  and 
restraint,  somewhat  resembling  that  to  which  the  Turks  and  other 
nations  of  eastern  origin  condemn  their  females  at  the  present  day. 
Except  during  solemn  festivals  and  other  public  ceremonies,  they 
were  strictly  confined  to  the  house,  where  they  spent  their  time  in 
spinning,  weaving,  baking  bread,  and  superintending  the  labors  of 
their  female  slaves. 

8.  When  they  appeared  in  public,  they  walked  in  procession,  with 
downcast  eyes,  surrounded  by  their  slaves  and  attendant  maidens,  or 
proceeded  unostentatiously  and  directly  to  the  place,  to  which  business 
called  them. 

9.  The  lower  class  were,  however,  practically  exempted  from  these 
restrictions,  and  even  the  females  of  rank  contrived  many  expedients 
for  evading  them.  The  Lacedaemonian  women  also  acted  in  a  different 
manner,  being  obliged  by  the  laws  of  Lycurgus  to  exhibit  themselves 
in  public. 

women?  6.  How  did  they  arrange  their  hair?  What  of  their  ornaments?  Paint? 
Powder?  When  did  they  use  veils?  7.  In  what  state  did  the  Greeks  keep  their 
women?     What  were  theiremployments?    8.  How  did  they  appear  in  public?    9.  What 


CLASSES.  —  OCCUPATIONS.-  AMUSEMENTS.  133 

10.  These  ladies  were  peculiar  in  some  other  respects.  Instead  of 
Bewailing  the  loss  of  their  husbands  or  sons  who  had  bravely  fallen  in 
battle,  they  appeared  in  public  with  every  indication  of  joy  after  such 
an  event,  and  only  assumed  the  aspect  of  sorrow  when  those  with 
whom  they  were  connected  disgraced  themselves  by  returning  unhurt 
rrom  an  unsuccessful  engagement  with  the  enemies  of  their  country. 


CHAPTER   LV. 

Classes     occupations;  amusements;  meals;  education;  mar- 
riages  ;  funerals. 

1 .  The  Greeks  were  divided  into  two  great  classes,  namely,  free- 
men and  slaves.  In  Sparta,  as  has  already  been  stated,  all  mechani- 
cal, agricultural,  and  menial  labors  were  performed  by  the  slaves, 
while  the  freemen  devoted  their  attention  exclusively  to  war,  to 
politics,  and  to  the  education  of  the  young. 

2.  In  Athens,  however,  and  the  other  Grecian  republics,  the 
citizens  did  not  scruple  to  engage  in  mechanical  trades  as  well  as  in 
the  more  lucrative  pursuits  of  commerce,  while  the  slaves  not  only 
officiated  as  agricultural  and  menial  laborers,  but,  to  a  very  consider- 
able extent,  as  handicraftsmen  also. 

3.  Among  the  trades  of  Greece  were  the  following :  Leather  bottle- 
makers  ;  bankers ;  barbers,  some  of  them  females  ;  barber  surgeons, 
whose  shops  were  lounging-places  ;  basket-makers  ;  blacksmiths  ; 
braziers  ;  butchers  ;  carpenters ;  coppersmiths  ;  cotton  manufacturers  ; 
curriers  ;  dyers  ;  enamelers  ;  factors  ;  farmers ;  fishermen  ;  flax- 
dressers  ;  founders  ;  fresco  painters  ;  fullers  ;  gilders  ;  goldsmiths  ; 
gardeners;  weighers;  paper-makers;  perfumers;  pilots;  tutors; 
quack  doctors ;  shepherds;  tanners;  weavers,  &c,  &c. 

4.  In  Athens,  great  numbers  of  the  citizens  had  no  private  occupa- 
tion whatever,  but  subsisted  on  the  pay  they  received  for  their  attend- 
ance in  the  political  and  judicial  assemblies,  on  the  allowance  of 
provisions  made  to  them  at  the  public  festivals,  and  on  occasional 
grants  of  money  from  the  public  treasury  or  the  coffers  of  wealthy 
individuals. 

5.  Their  ordinary  amusements  consisted  in  conversing  together,  or 
listening  to  the  orators  in  the  agora,  or  market-place,  walking  in  the 
public  gardens,  attending  the  lectures  and  disputations  of  the  philoso- 
phers, and  assisting  in  the  numerous  processions,  games,  and  festivi- 
ties, which  took  place  in  honor  of  the  gods. 

was  the  situation  of  the  women  of  the  lower  classes?  Of  the  Lacedaemonian  women  ? 
JO.  What  was  their  behavior  on  the  death  of  their  friends  in  battle?  If  they  relumed 
unhurt  from  an  unsuccessful  engagement? 

LV. —  I.  Into  what  two  great  classes  were  the  Greeks  divided  ?    Wiiat  of  these  classes 
to  Sparta?    2.   What  of  trade  and  labor  in  Athens?    3.   What  were  the  principal  trades 
'•n  Greece  ?    4.  How  did  many  of  the  citizens  live  ?    5.  AVhat  were  their  ordinary  amusa- 
12 


134 


PERIOD  II.— 834  B.C.  TO  493  B.C. 


6  The  Greeks  usually  made  two  meals  a  day.  The  first  of  these 
was  eaten  in  the  morning  ;  the  second,  which  was  the  principal  meal, 
took  place  in  the  evening.  Instead  of  sitting  upright  at  table,  as  is 
the  custom  in  the  countries  of  Western  Europe,  they  reclined  on 
cushions  or  couches. 

7.  In  the  primitive  ages  they  fed  on  fruits  and  roots,  but  afterwards 
they  varied  their  Hire  with  animal  food  of  several  kinds,  and  many 
delicacies  of  cookery.  Generous  wines  were  served  in  abundance  at 
the  tables  of  the  rich,  and  music,  dancing,  and  pantomimic  shows 
added  charms  to  the  entertainment. 


Drinking  urns. 


8.  Before  going  to  a  feast,  the  Greeks  washed  their  bodies  and 
anointed  them 'with  oils;  and  when  they  arrived,  their  entertainer 
welcomed  them  either  by  taking  their  hand,  or  kissing  their  lips, 
hands,  or  feet,  according  as  he  wished  to  pay  them  greater  or  less 
respect.  Before  commencing  the  repast,  a  portion  of  the  provisions 
on  the  table  was  set  apart  as  an  offering  to  the  gods,  and  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  meal  a  hymn  was  usually  sung.  • 

9.  The  Greeks  did  not  drink  healths,  but  they  had  a  custom  of  a 
somewhat  similar  nature.  Before  quaffing  their  wine,  they  frequently 
poured  out  a  portion  on  the  ground  in  honor  of  any  god,  or  absent 
friend,  whom  they  wished  to  remember.     This  was  called  a  libation. 

10.  The  Greeks  were  not  without  some  nice  notions  of  propriety. 
Long  nails,  dirty  teeth,  wiping  the  nose  at  meals,  spitting  upon  the 
waiter  at  table,  &c,  were  deemed  acts  of  offensive  vulgarity  !  One 
who  talked  of  himself  unduly,  was  set  down  as  a  bore.  Foppery 
consisted  in  seeking  to  sit  near  the  host  at  a  ceremonious  feast ;  brag- 
ging about  taking  a  child  to  Delphi,  to  deposit  his  hair  ;  saying  that 


ments?  6.  What  meals  did  the  Greeks  usually  make?  How  did  they  sit  at  table? 
7.  W  hat  was  their  food  ?  Their  drink  ?  8.  What  ceremonies  were  used  before  going  to  a 
feast  and  on  arriving  there  ?  What  was  done  before  commencing  the  repast  ?  9.  What 
Custom  had  they  similar  to  that  of  drinking  healths  ?    What  was  this  called  ?     10.  Whai 


EDUCATION.  —  MARRIAGES.  —  FUNERALS.  1 W) 

one  had  taken  care  to  have  a  black  footman  ;  placing-  garlands  before 
a  door  when  one  had  offered  sacrifice ;  erecting  a  rnori  lment  to  a  lap- 
dog,  &c. 

11.  The  education  of  the  young  was  carefully  attended  to  by  the 
Greeks,  and  a  system  like  that  of  Bell  and  Lancaster  seems  to  have 
been  followed  in  the  schools.  The  Spartan  system  of  training,  as 
already  described,  was  limited  to  exercises  calculated  to  discipline  ihe 
mind  to  fortitude,  and  strengthen  the  physical  powers ;  the  study  of 
the  arts  and  sciences,  and  the  pursuits  of  literature,  being  deemed  un- 
worthy the  attention  of  a  Lacedaemonian  citizen. 

12.  The  Athenians,  and  the  people  of  some  other  states  of  Greece, 
who  generally  imitated  the  manners  and  institutions  of  Athens,  gave 
their  youth  a  much  more  liberal  and  generous  education.  While 
physical  training  was  not  neglected,  instructions  were  given  in  read- 
ing, writing,  grammar,  music,  recitation,  and,  later,  in  philosophy  and 
oratory.  There  were  many  famous  schools ;  and  attendance  upon 
public  debates,  where  the  first  orators  in  the  world  were  heard,  was 
common. 

13.  The  Athenian  marriages  were  generally  formed  at  an  early 
age,  as  the  Grecian  women  were  marriageable  about  their  fourteenth 
year.  Though  nuptial  engagements  were  entered  into  with  many 
formalities,  they  were  very  easily  dissolved ;  all  that  was  necessary 
for  that  purpose  being  that  the  parties  should  furnish  the  archon  with 
a  written  certificate  of  their  agreement  to  separate  from  each  other. 

14.  The  Spartan  marriages  were,  like  all  the  rest  of  their  institu- 
tions, of  a  singular  character.  After  a  Lacedaemonian  had  obtained 
the  consent  of  the  lady's  parents,  he  was  obliged  to  carry  off  his  des- 
tined spouse  by  force,  for  it  was  considered  extremely  indecorous  in  a 
female  to  consent  to  be  married.  Even  after  marriage,  the  young 
husband  and  wife  for  a  long  time  carefully  avoided  being  seen  in  each 
other's  company ;  and  so  secretly  was  their  intercourse  conducted, 
that  where  there  chanced  to  be  no  children,  years  sometimes  elapsed 
before  it  was  generally  known  that  the  parties  were  married. 

15.  The  funerals  of  the  Greeks  were  celebrated  with  much  pomp 
and  ceremony.  After  being  washed,  anointed,  and  dressed  in  a  costly 
garment,  the  dead  body  was  laid  out  in  state,  for  one,  two,  or  some- 
times even  three  days.  On  its  head  was  placed  a  wreath  of  flowers, 
and  in  its  hand  a  cake  of  flour  and  honey  as  an  offering  to  Cerberus, 
the  triple-headed  watch-dog  of  hell. 

16.  A  small  coin,  named  an  obolus,  and  worth  about  three-halfpence 
of  sterling  money,  was  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  corpse,  to  be  paid  to 
Charon  for  ferrying  the  departed  spirit  across  the  river  Styx.  Until 
the  time  appointed  for  the  funeral,  the  body  was  constantly  surrounded 
by  relatives  and  hired  mourners,  whose  loud  lamentations  were  accom- 
panied with  the  plaintive  sounds  of  the  flute. 

17.  The  corpse,  enclosed  in  a  coffin  of  cypress,  was  then  put  on  a 

notions  of  propriety  did  the  Greeks  have?  What  of  foppery?  What  of  the  education 
of  the  young'  Among  the  Spartans?  12.  The  Athenians?  13.  What  of  marriage 
among  the  Athenians?  How  were  nuptial  engagements  dissolved?  14.  What  of  Spar- 
tan marriages?  What  of  the  secrecy  with  which  they  were  conducted?  15.  What  of 
Ihe  funerals  of  the  Greeks?     16    What  ceremonies  were  custorrary  till  the  time  ap 


136  PERIOD  II.  —  884  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 

f.ar  and  conveyed  to  tne  place  where  it  was  to  be  finally  disposed  of 
The  funeral  procession  by  which  it  was  accompanied  was  arranged  in 
the  following  order:  —  First  came  musicians,  playing  or  chanting 
mournful  airs  ;  next  advanced  the  male  relations  and  friends,  dressed 
in  black ;  then  came  the  coffin,  and  behind  it  walked  the  women. 

18.  As  the  will  of  the  deceased  or  of  the  kindred  directed,  the 
body  was  then  either  committed  to  the  grave,  or  consumed  upon  a 
funeral  pile,  the  ashes  being,  in  the  latter  case,  afterwards  collected 
and  placed  in  an  urn,  which  was  buried  in  the  earth.  Libations  of 
wine  were,  at  the  same  time,  made,  or  a  sacrifice  offered  to  the  pods ; 
prayers  were  said,  and  the  name  of  the  deceased  invoked  aloud  A. 
funeral  banquet  closed  the  ceremony,  and  it  was  customary  to  erno»  -4 
monumental  stone  or  statue  over  the  grave. 


Offering  sacrifice. 

19.  Religious  rites  and  ceremonies,  of  which  we  have  given  an 
account,  were  the  chief  business  of  the  priests,  yet  the  people  attended 
at  the  services  of  the  temples,  and  furnished,  as  offerings,  their  finest 
cattle  and  choicest  products.  No  business  was  undertaken  without 
consulting  the  gods  by  religious  ceremonies. 


CHAPTER   LVI. 

Armies.  —  Warfare.  —  Fortified  Towns. 

1.   The  Greek  states  had  no  hired  or  standing  armies,  but  trusted 
for  their  defence  to  a  militia  force,  composed  of  citizens  and  armed 

pointed  for  the  funeral  ?     17.  What  was  the  order  of  the  funeral  procession  ?     18.  Wha* 
was  then  done  with  the  body  ?    Were  libations  made?    How  was  the  ceremony  closed? 
19.  What  was  the  business  of  the  priests  ?    Did  the  people  attend  at  sacrifices  ?     What 
was  always  done  before  undertaking  important  business? 
LVI.  —  I.  Did  the  Greeks  have  standing  armies  ?    To  what  did  they  trust  (or  defence  ? 


ARMIES.  —WARFARE. 


37 


BJaves,  which  was  called  out  in  time  of  war.     It  appears,  from  thr» 
poems  of  Homer,  that,  in  early  times,  many  of  the  Grecian  chiefs  and 


Greeks  in  battle. 

warriors  fought  in  chariots,  drawn  by  horses ;  but  at  a  later  period 
these  vehicles  were  entirely  disused. 


Greek  soldiers,  from  an  ancient  sculpture. 

2.  The  usual  arrangement  came  to  be,  that  the  officers  and  upper 
classes  fought  on  horseback,  and  the  common  soldiery  on  foot.  The 
regular  cavalry  were  armed  with  swords  and  spears.  The  infantry 
were  divided  into  two  classes,  respectively  called  the  heavy-armed 
and  the  light-armed,  the  first  of  which  divisions  generally  consisted 
of  citizens,  and  the  other  of  slaves,  or  of  freemen  of  the  lowest  rank. 

3.  The  heavy-armed  foot  wore  helmets  of  brass  or  iron  upon  their 
heads,  and  cuirasses  and  greaves  of  the  same  metals  upon  their  breasts 
and  legs.  With  the  right  hand  they  grasped  a  spear  or  sword,  and 
on  the  left  arm  they  had  a  buckler  or  shield.  They  generally  fought 
in  a  close  body,  termed  a  phalanx,  in  which  the  file  was  sometimes 
eight,  and  at  others  sixteen  men  in  depth. 

What  of  war  chariots  in  the  earlier  times?    2.  What  was  the  usual  arrangement) 
What  of  the  regular  cavalry  ?     The  infantry  ? 
3.  The  heavy-arme.l  foot  soldiers  ?     What  did  they  hold  in  their  hands  ?    How  did  they 
12* 


13S 


PERIOD 


834  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 


4.  The  light-armed  troops  used  bows,  javelins  and  slings,  and  were 
esteemed  of  so  little  importance,  compared  with  the  heavy-armed,  mat 
the  ancient  writers,  in  their  descriptions  of  battles,  frequently  omit  to 
mention  the  light  soldiery  altogether,  in  stating  the  number  of  troops 
engaged. 


Buckler  or  shield. 

5.  The  Greeks  advanced  to  meet  the  enemy  at  a  quick  but  regulat 
pace,  and  with  a  silence  which  was  only  occasionally  broken  by  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet  or  the  Spartan  flute,  until  the  clash  of  arms  and 
the  groans  of  the  dying  announced  the  mortal  conflict. 

6.  Every  citizen  was  liable  to  be  called  out  for  the  defence  of  the 
state,  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  sixty,  but  those  of  advanced 
years  were  exempted  from  foreign  service.  The  Athenians  had  a 
custom  of  appointing  ten  generals  to  every  army,  one  being  selected 
from  each  of  the  ten  wards  of  Attica. 

7.  At  first,  each  of  these  officers  was  successively  invested  with 
the  sole  command  for  a  single  day,  but  the  evils  resulting  from  so 
injudicious  an  arrangement  being  ere  long  perceived,  the  practice  was 
modified,  in  as  far  as  one  of  the  ten  was  appointed  to  the  actual  com- 
mand, while  the  remaining  nine  accompanied  him  as  counsellors,  o* 
remained  at  home  with  the  honorary  title  of  generals. 

8.  The  Grecian  towns  were  fortified  with  walls,  towers,  and  fosses 
or  ditches,  which  rendered  it  very  difficult  to  take  them  by  siege  ii 
those  times,  although  the  places  then  deemed  and  proved  impregnable 
would  not  have  been  able  to  hold  out  for  an  hour  against  modern  artil 

fight?    4.  What  weapons  did  the  light-armed  troops  use?    What  was  their  comparativ* 
importance  ?    5.  How  did  the  Greeks  meet  the  enemy  ? 

6.  At  what  ages  were  the  citizens  liable  to  be  called  out  ?  What  custom  had  the  Atho 
nians?  7.  How  was  this  custom  afterwards  altered?  8.  What  of  the  Greek  fortifica 
lions  '*    What  of  their  engines  of  war  compared  with  ours  ? 


WAR   MACHINES. 


1M9 


Icry.  Yet,  impotent  as  the  engines  of  war  possessed  by  the  Greeks 
were  in  comparison  of  cannon,  they  had  machines  which  enabled 
Ibem  greatly  to  annoy,  and  often  to  carry  by  assault,  places  very 
slronglv  fortified. 


Grecian  Soldier 

9.  The  principal  of  these  engines  were  the  battering-ram,  the 
moving  tower,  the  tortoise,  the  catapulta,  and  the  balista.  The  bat- 
tering-ram was  a  very  large  beam  of  wood,  at  the  end  of  which  was 
an  iron  head,  shaped  so  as  partly  to  resemble  that  of  a  ram.  Some 
of  these  machines  were  suspended  from  the  roof  of  a  wooden  build- 
ing erected  to  screen  the  men  who  worked  them  from  the  missiles  of 
the  besieged,  while  others,  of  a  smaller  size,  were  carried  in  men's 
arms. 

10.  They  were  used  in  battering  down  walls,  and  are  described  as 
having  been  sometimes  terribly  effective.  To  deaden  their  blows,  the 
besieged  were  accustomed  to  lower  bags  of  wool  before  those  parts 
of  the  walls  against  which  they  were  directed. 

11.  The  moving  tower  was  a  wooden  building  in  the  form  of  an 
obelisk,  and  was  placed  on  wheels,  by  means  of  which  it  could  be 


9.  What,  were  their  principal  engines?  Describe  the  battering  ram.  How  was  this 
machine  worked  ?  10.  For  what  was  it  used  ?  How  did  the  besieged  deaden  the  blows  1 
U    What  was  the  moving  tower?     How  high  were  these  towers  made  ? 


HO  PERIOD   IT.  -SS4   I?    C    TO  433  B    C 

pushed  forward  to  the  fortifications  which  were  the  objects  of  attack 
These  towers  were  from  thirty  to  forty  feet  square  at  the  base,  ana 
rose  to  a  greater  height  than  the  ordinary  walls  of  fortified  towns. 

12.  In  the  lowest  story  they  contained  a  battering-ram  ;  in  the 
middle  part  they  had  a  drawbridge,  which  could  be  lowered  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  enable  the  assailants  to  pass  over  from  the  tower  to  the 
walls,  and  at  the  top  they  were  filled  with  soldiers,  who  threw  jave- 
lins and  shot  arrows  at  the  defenders  of  the  walls. 

13.  The  tortoise  was  a  species  of  wooden  house,  about  twenty-five 
feet  square  and  twelve  feet  high.  Like  the  moving  tower,  it  wa3 
furnished  with  wheels,  by  means  of  which  it  could  be  propelled  forward 
to  the  walls.  It  was  covered  with  strong  hides,  which  had  been 
steeped  in  certain  drugs  to  render  them  fire-proof,  and  was  called  a 
tortoise  on  account  of  its  great  strength,  which  rendered  those  within 
it  as  safe  as  a  tortoise  in  a  shell.  It  was  used  as  a  covering  to  protect 
the  persons  employed  in  filling  up  the  ditches  and  sapping  the  walls 
of  fortified  places. 

14.  The  balista  and  the  catapulta  were  machines  for  throwing 
Bhowers  of  darls  and  stones,  and  are  said  to  have  borne  considerable  re- 
semblance to  the  modern  cross-bow,  though  of  vast  size  in  proportion 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

Greek  Ships  of  War,  —  Houses,  Furniture,  fyc. 

1.  In  the  days  of  Homer,  the  Grecian  ship  of  war  was  a  large 
open  boat,  capable  of  carrying  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty 
men.  When  the  wind  was  fair  and  moderate,  a  sail  was  hoisted,  but 
the  ordinary  mode  of  propelling  these  vessels  was  by  oars. 

2.  At  that  early  period  the  rowers  sat  in  a  single  line  along  each 
side  of  the  vessel,  but  afterwards  the  Corinthians  invented  the  trireme, 
a  species  of  galley,  which  had  three  benches  or  tiers  of  rowers,  and 
was  decked  like  the  larger  craft  of  modern  times. 

3.  The  largest  of  these  vessels  generally  carried  a  crew  of  about 
two  hundred  men,  consisting  partly  of  sailors  and  partly  of  soldiers, 
or,  as  we  should  now  call  them,  marines.  In  sea-fights  these  marines 
stood  on  the  deck  of  the  ship,  and  assailed  the  enemy  with  darts  or 
javelins ;  and  when  the  vessels  came  close  to  each  other,  they  fought 
hand  to  hand  with  the  sword  and  spear. 

4.  Although  the  trireme  appears  to  have  been  the  war  vessel  in 
most  general  use,  there  were  many  galleys  of  a  still  larger  size. 
Ships  of  four  or  five  tiers  of  oars  were  not  uncommon,  and  some 

12.  Of  what  different  parts  did  they  consist?  13.  What  was  the  tortoise?  With 
what  was  it  covered  ?  Why  was  it  so'  called?  For  what  was  it  used  ?  14.  What  were 
the  catapulta  and  balista  ? 

LVII.  —  1.  What  of  the  Grecian  ships  of  war  in  the  days  of  Homer?  What  was  the 
usual  method  of  propelling  these  vessels?  2.  How  did  the  rowers  sit?  What  of  the  tri- 
reme 7    3.  What  crew  did  the  largest  vessels  carry  ?    What  of  the  marines  ? 

4.  What  of  other  vessels  ?    5.  How  were  the  prows  of  Grecian  vessels  ornamented 


GREEK  SHIP  OF  WAR  — HOUSES,  ETC.  141 

enormous  vessels,  which,  however,  were  built  rather  foi  show  thas 
for  use,  had  as  many  as  thirty  or  forty  benches  of  rowers. 


Greek  galley. 

5.  The  prows  of  Grecian  ships  were  usually  ornamented  with 
sculptured  representations  of  gods,  men,  or  animals,  like  the  figure- 
heads of  modern  vessels.  From  the  lower  part  of  the  prow  the™ 
projected  what  was  called  the  beak,  which  was  a  piece  of  wood,  armed 
with  a  spike  of  brass  or  iron.  This  was  of  great  use  in  damaging  ot 
sinking  vessels —  it  being  an  important  part  of  an  ancient  commodore's 
tactics  to  attempt  to  run  down  the  enemy  by  striking  his  ship's  beak 
against  the  side  of  the  hostile  vessel. 

6.  Another  manoeuvre,  frequently  resorted  to  for  compelling  an 
engagement,  was  to  bear  down  obliquely  upon  the  enemy's  line,  so  as 
to  break  the  oars  of  his  vessels,  and  thereby  render  them  unmanage- 
able. The  ships  were  then  brought  close  together,  and  the  personal 
conflict  which  ensued  decided  the  fortune  of  the  day. 

7.  The  private  houses  in  the  Grecian  cities  were,  for  the  mass  of 
the  people,  extremely  mean  in  aspect,  being  built  of  clay  or  unbaked 
bricks,  and  arranged  in  irregular  lines  along  the  sides  of  narrow  streets. 
But  men  of  wealth  had  large  and  handsome  establishments.  Their 
dwellings  were  divided  into  several  apartments,  with  two  or  more 
stories,  mounted  by  staircases. 

8.  In  front  was  a  large  gate,  outside  of  which  was  a  heap  of 
manure  \eft  there  by  the  horses  amd  mules.  Here  a  number  of  dogs 
and  pigs  were  accustomed  to  assemble.  The  first  rooms  seen  on 
entering  were  decorated  with  paintings.     There  were  separate  apart- 

What  was  the  beak  ?    What  was  its  use  ?    6.    What  other  manoeuvre  was  practised  ? 
How  was  the  conflict  decided  ? 

7.  What  of  the  houses  of  the  common  people  in  Grecian  cities?  Of  the  men  oJ 
wealth?    8.   What  of  the  appearance  of  the  outside  of  the  house?    To  what  purpose 


U2 


PERIOD  11.-884  B.  C.  TO  403  B.  L 


ments  for  the  men,  the  visitors,  and  strangers.     There  was  also  s 
remote  room  for  the  girls,  who.  were  kept  under  lock  and  key. 


jssm 


Buildings  of  the  rich  in  Athens. 

9.    The  houses  of  the  wealthier  class  abounded  in  paintings,  sculp 
tures,  vases,  and  ornamental  works  of  art.     The  walls  were  plastered 


ana  fir  ished  with  joiner's  work.    The  walls  and  ceilings  were  adorned 


HOUSES -FURNITURE,  ETC 


in 


with  paintings  ;  gold  and  ivory  set  off  the  furniture.     Screens  of  rich 
tapestry  were  in  use. 

10.  Among  the  articles  of  household  furniture,  we  may  enumerate 
chairs,  beds  of  geese  feathers,  bedsteads,  bedsteads  with  musquito 
nets,    l»mbskin    blankets,   tables,    candelabras,   carpets,    footstools 


lamps,  chafing-dishes,  vases  of  various  forms,  baskets,  basins,  bel 
lows,  brooms,  cisterns,  ovens,  frying-pans,  hand-mills,  knives,  soup- 
ladles,  lanterns,  mirrors,  mortars,  sieves,  spits,  and  in  short  most  of 
the  articles,  or  substitutes  for  them,  now  in  use. 

11.  The  public  buildings  of  Greece  have  never  been  equalled,  much 
less  surpassed,  in  any  country  of  the  world,  for  combined  magnificence 
and  durability.  Formed  of  polished  stone,  or  of  the  finest  marble, 
and  exhibiting  in  their  construction  the  admirable  proportions  and 
beauty  of  the  three  Grecian  orders  of  architecture,  —  the  Doric,  Ionic, 
and  Corinthian,  —  these  temples  and  public  buildings  have  long  been 
justly  reckoned  among  the  wonders  of  human  art. 

12.  Though  in  ruins,  they  are  yet  the  objects  of  imitation  to  the 
most  refined  and  tasteful  nations  of  earth.  Far  from  hoping  to  excel 
them,  the  modern  architect  esteems  himself  fortunate  when  he  has 
been  successful  in  copying  their  distinguishing  excellences. 


were  the  various  rooms  appropriated?    9.   How  were  the  houses  of  the  wealthier  classes 
ornamented?    The  walls  ?    The  ceilings?    The  furniture? 

10.  What  were  some  of  the  articles  of  domestic  furniture?  11.  What  of  the  public 
buildings  ->f  Greece?  Of  what  were  they  built?  la  what  three  orders  of  architectural 
2.   What  of  them  now,  though  in  ruins  ? 


i.41  PERIOD  II.—  884  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 

CHAPTER   LVIII. 
Poets  of  the  Second  Periou. 

1.  The  eighth  century  before  Christ,  or  that  immediately  following 
the  era  of  Homer  and  Hesiod,  forms  a  perfect  blank  in  the  history  of 
Greece  ;  not  one  of  its  poets  —  if,  indeed,  any  then  nourished  —  having 
possessed  sufficient  merit  to  ensure  the  preservation  of  his  works,  or 
even  of  his  name,  from  oblivion. 

2.  The  seventh  century,  by  producing  Archilochus,  Tyrtaeus,  and 
Ataman,  gave  indication  of  the  approach  of  a  brighter  period ;  and 
the  sixth  more  than  fulfilled  the  promises  of  its  predecessor,  by  giving 
birth  to  Sappho,  Anacreon,  and  Simonides,  besides  several  other  poets 
of  inferior,  yet  still  of  distinguished  ability 

3.  Archilochus,  who  has  been  named  as  one  of  the  poets  of  the 
seventh  century  B.  C,  was  a  native  of  the  island  of  Paros.  His 
writings,  which  were  principally  satirical,  have  all  perished,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  inconsiderable  fragments  ;  but,  judging  by  the  effects 
which  his  works  are  said  to  have  produced  upon  his  contemporaries, 
we  must  conclude  Archilochus  to  have  possessed  no  ordinary  share  of 
poetical  genius. 

4.  Tyrtaeus  was  the  poet,  who,  as  has  been  already  stated,  was 
6ent  in  mockery  by  the  Athenians  to  the  Spartans  to  conduct  for 
them  the  Second  Messenian  War,  and  whose  verses  had  so  much 
effect  in  animating  their  valor.  He  was  a  native  of  Miletus,  one  of 
the  Ionian  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  and  was  afflicted  with  lameness,  as 
well  as  blind  of  one  eye. 

5.  Early  in  life  he  settled  in  Athens,  where  he  employed  himself 
in  teaching  a  school.  After  his  military  campaigns,  he  resided  at 
Sparta,  where  he  was  held  in  great  respect  on  account  of  his  impor- 
tant public  services.  Only  a  few  fragments  of  his  works  have  been 
preserved,  but  his  name  is  still  familiar  as  a  household  word  in  the 
land  of  Greece. 

6.  Alcman,  a  lyrical  poet  of  the  seventh  century  B.  C,  was  a  native 
of  Sparta.  His  verses,  which  were  chiefly  on  amatory  subjects,  have 
all  been  lost,  except  a  few  scraps.  Terpander,  another  lyrical  poet 
of  the  same  period,  was  born  in  the  island  of  Lesbos.  He  was  also  an 
accomplished  musician,  and  gained  several  prizes  for  music  and  poetry 
at  the  Pythian  or  Delphic  Games,  and  at  a  public  festival  in  Sparta. 
He  improved  the  lyre,  and  introduced  several  new  measures  into 
Greek  poetry. 

7.  Sappho  was  a  lyrical  poetess,  whose  genius  was  so  much 
admired  by  the  Greeks,  that  they  honored  her  with  the  title  of  "  the 
Tenth  Muse."    She  was  born  at  Mitylene,  in  the  isle  of  Lesbos,  about 

LVIII.  —  1.  What  of  the  Greek  literature  during  the  eighth  century  before  Christ  ?  2. 
What  poets  did  ihe  seventh  century  produce?  The  sixth?  2.  Who  was  Archilochus? 
What  may  be  said  of  his  writings  ?  4.  Who  was  Tyriteus  ?  Where  was  he  born  ?  How 
was  he  afflicted/  5.  What  of  his  early  life?  Where  did  he  afterwards  reside?  What 
9f  his  works  remain  ? 

6   Who  was  Alcman ?    Terpandei  i    What  improvements  did  he  introduce'1    7.  Whc 


POETS  OF  THh  SECOND  PERIOD.  145 

tne  year  610  B.  C.  She  became  the  wife  of  a  wealthy  Inhabitant  of 
the  island  of  Andros,  to  whom  she  bore  a  daughter,  named  Cleis. 

8.  Sappho  was  short  in  stature,  swarthy  in  complexion,  and  by  no 
means  beautiful.  Endowed  with  a  warm  and  passionate  temperament, 
she  chiefly  wrote  poetry  descriptive  of  the  hopes  and  fears  inspired  by 
love. 

9.  Only  two  of  her  lyrics  have  been  preserved  entire,  namely,  a 
Hymn  to  Venus,  and  an  Ode  tn  a  Young  Lady,  both  of  which  are 
characterized  by  so  much  beauty,  feeling,  and  fire,  as  fully  to  justify 
the  admiration  with  which  her  poetical  powers  were  regarded  by  the 
ancients. 

10.  Her  vehement  affections  finally  impelled  her  to  her  own  de- 
struction. After  the  death  of  her  husband,  she  became  desperately 
enamored  of  a  young  man,  named  Phaon,  and  finding  herself  unable 
to  excite  a  reciprocal  passion,  notwithstanding  the  most  earnest  anc 
persevering  efforts,  she  threw  herself  headlong  into  tne  sea,  from  a 
high  rock  at  the  promontory  of  Leucate.  The  place  where  she  was 
drowned  was  afterwards  known  by  the  name  of  the  "  Lover's  Leap." 

11.  Alcaeus,  a  lyrical  poet,  whose  works  have  perished,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  fragments,  was  a  contemporary  of  Sappho,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  one  of  her  lovers.  Like  her,  he  was  a  native  of 
Mitylene,  and,  like  her  also,  he  was  a  person  of  strong  passions,  unre- 
stramed  by  proper  moral  feeling. 

12.  Ibycus,  a  writer  of  amatory  lyrics,  was  born  at  Rhegium,  a 
i>  wn  in  the  south  of  Italy,  about  600  13.  C.  While  yet  young  he  emi- 
grated to  the  island  of  Samos.  Little  further  is  known  respecting  his 
personal  history,  excepting  the  fact  that  he  was  put  to  death  by  a  band 
. »  rubers,  into  whose  hands  he  had  fallen  while  making  a  journey. 
rfis  poems  have  almost  entirely  perished. 

13.  Mimnermus,  an  elegiac  poet,  and  an  accomplished  musician, 
<vas  a  native  of  Colophon,  one  of  the  Ionian  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  and 
flourished  about  600  B.  C.  Of  his  writings,  only  some  detached 
verses  have  come  down  to  modern  times.  Theognis,  the  author  of  a 
work  still  extant,  consisting  of  a  collection  of  moral  maxims  put  into 
verse,  was  born  at  Megara,  a  Dorian  city  at  the  head  of  the  Saronic 
Gulf,  and  flourished  about  550  B.  C. 

14.  Anacreon,  a  poet  of  great  celebrity,  was  born  at  Teos,,  a  city 
of  Ionia,  in  Asia,  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  before  the 
Christian  era.  His  reputation  as  a  poet  having  become  very  great, 
Hipparchus,  who,  together  with  his  brother  Hippias,  then  ruled  in 
Athens,  invited  him  to  visit  that  city,  and  according  to  Plato,  sent  a 
ifty-oared  vessel  for  the  express  purpose  of  conveying  him  to  Attica. 

15.  After  the  assassination  of  Hipparchus,  Anacreon  recrossed  the 
./Egean  to  his  native  town  of  Teos ;  but  was  a  secqnd  time  obliged 
to  quit  it,  on  account  of  the  advance  of  the  Persian  army,  when  the 

was  Sappho?  What  of  her?  8.  What  was  her  appearance ?  Her  temperament  ?  a 
What  may  be  sulci  of  her  works  that  remain  ?     10.   What  of  her  death  .' 

11.  What  of  iVlcaeus?  Of  what  city  was  he  a  native?  12.  Who  was  Ibycus?  What 
is  known  of  his  personal  history?  13.  What  of  Mimnermus?  Theognis?  14.  Who 
was  Anacreon  ?  When  and  where  was  he  born?  What  invitation  was  given  to  him  by 
^ipparchus? 

to.   Where  did  Anacreon   go  after  the  assassination  of  Hipparchus?     Why  was  lie 

10 


l4G  PERIOD  II.—  884  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 

Greek  states  of  Asia  Minor  endeavored  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Darius 
in  the  vear  500  B.  C.  He  then  returned  to  the  Teian  settlement  at 
Abdera,  where  he  died  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  (about  470 
B.  C.) 

10.  He  is  said  to  have  been  choked  by  a  grape-stone  while  quaf- 
fing a  cup  of  wine  —  a  death  not  inappropriate  to  the  manner  in  which 
he  spent  his  life.  The  extant  works  of  Anacreon  consist  of  odes  and 
sonnets,  chiefly  referring  to  the  subjects  of  love  and  wine.  His  style 
is  graceful,  sprightly,  and  mellifluous  ;  but  he  can  only  be  considered 
as  an  inspired  voluptuary.  The  Athenians,  in  his  own  spirit,  reared  a 
monument  to  him  in  the  shape  of  a  drunkard  singing  —  an  expressive 
proof  of  the  blindness  of  the  ancients  to  the  vicious  and  Jegrading 
nature  of  intemperance. 

17.  Simonides,  an  eminent  elegiac  poet,  was  born  in  the  isle  of 
Ceos,  about  the  year  560  B.  C.  On  attaining  to  manhood  he  opened 
a  school,  and  for  some  time  gave  lessons  in  singing  and  dancing,  but, 
growing  tired  of  this  occupation,  he  crossed  over  to  Asia  Minor,  where 
he  travelled  from  city  to  city,  composing,  for  hire,  poetical  eulogiums 
on  the  victors  in  the  public  games. 

18.  He  visited  Athens  during  the  reign  of  Hipparchus,  and  after- 
wards sailed  to  Sicily,  where,  by  the  proofs  which  he  gave  of  his 
poetical  abilities,  he  attracted  the  attention  and  acquired  the  lasting 
friendship  of  Hiero,  King  of  Syracuse,  whose  liberal  encouragement 
of  men  of  learning  and  genius  reflects  honor  upon  his  memory.  At 
the  court  of  this  enlightened  monarch,  Simonides  spent  most  of  the 
remaining  years  of  his  life,  and  here  he  composed  some  of  his  princi- 
pal poems. 

19.  Simonides  was  famed  for  his  wisdom  as  well  as  for  his  poetical 
genius.  Being  asked  by  King  Hiero,  "  what  was  the  nature  of  God  ?" 
he  requested  to  be  allowed  a  day  to  reflect  upon  the  subject  before 
returning  an  answer.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  asked  for  two  days 
more,  and  continued  thus  to  go  on,  always  doubling  the  number  of 
days  demanded,  until  at  length  Hiero,  astonished,  inquired  the  reason 
of  so  much  procrastination. 

20.  The  answer  of  Simonides  was,  that  the  longer  he  meditated 
upon  the  subject,  the  more  difficult  it  appeared  to  be.  Being  once 
asked  whether  knowledge  or  wealth  was  most  desirable,  he  answered, 
that  it  must  be  wealth,  as  he  daily  saw  learned  men  waiting  at  the 
doors  of  rich  men  —  a  severe  but  just  reflection  upon  sycophancy. 

'21.  Simonides  chiefly  excelled  in  elegiac  composition,  but  he  also 
attempted  with  success  other  kinds  of  poetry.  He  celebrated  the 
battles  of  Marathon,  Thermopylae,  Salamis,  and  Plataea,  in  separate 
poems  which  were  greatly  admired ;  and  for  the  first  of  these  pieces 
he  gained  a  prize  in  a  contest  with  iEschylus,  the  tragic  poet. 

obliged  lo  leave  again  ?  Where  and  when  did  he  die  ?  16.  What  was  the  cause  of  his 
death?  Of  what  do  his  works  consist?  What  of  his  style?  What  monument  did  the 
Athenians  raise  to  him? 

17.  Who  was  Simonides?  What  was  his  early  employment?  18.  What  places  did  he 
visit?     Whose  attention  did  he  attract  In  Sicily?     What  did  Simonides  do  at  this  court? 

19.  For  what  was  Simonides  celebrated?  What  question  was  put  to  him  by  Hiero? 
How  did  he  answer  it?  20.  What  other  answer  did  he  make?  21.  In  what  d'd  Simou 
ide.-  evf  el  ?    What  battles  did  he  celebrate  ?    What  prize  did  l),e  gajn  ? 


«\GES  AND  PHILOSOPHERS.  147 

22.  In  tenderness  and  plaintive  sweetness  he  was  without  a  rival  ; 
and  one  of  his  works,  entitled  "  the  Lamentations,"  is  mentioned  in 
particular  by  the  ancient  writers  as  a  poem  of  such  touching  pathos, 
that  it  was  impossible  to  peruse  it  without  shedding  tears. 

23.  He  is  said  to  have  perfected  the  Greek  alphabet,  by  adding 
four  letters  to  it,  and  to  have  been  the  inventor  of  what  is  called 
artificial  memory.  He  preserved  his  faculties  till  a  very  advanced 
age,  and  gained  a  prize  for  poetical  composition  in  his  eightieth  year. 
He  died  in  Sicily,  at  the  age  of  ninety.  Of  his  numerous  poems  only 
a  few  verses  have  escaped  the  ravages  of  time. 


CHAPTER    LIX. 

Sages  and  Philosophers  of  the  Second  Period.  —  The  Seven 
Wise  Men. 

1.  The  "  Seven  Wise  Men  of  Greece"  have  already  been  alluded 
10.  Their  names  were  Pittacus  of  Mitylene,  Bias  of  Priene,  Solon 
of  Athens,  Chilon  of  Lacedaemon,  Cleobulus  of  Lyndus,  Periander  of 
Corinth,  and  Thales  of  Miletus. 

2.  Two  occasions  on  which  these  seven  sages  met  all  together, 
?re  mentioned  by  ancient  writers  —  once  at  Delphi,  and  a  second  time 
it  Corinth.  The  following  circumstance  is  said  to  have  procured  for 
them  the  distinctive  appellation  of  the  Seven  Wise  Men  :  —  Some  fisher- 
men of  Miletus,  in  Asia  Minor,  after  casting  their  nets  into  the  sea, 
made  a  sale  of  the  anticipated  draught  to  some  individuals  who  hap- 
pened to  be  standing  by. 

3.  But  when  the  nets  were  drawn,  and  it  was  found  that  they 
contained  a  golden  tripod,  the  fishermen  refused  to  give  it  to  the 
purchasers  of  the  draught,  alleging  that  they  had  only  sold  the  fish 
that  the  nets  might  enclose.  After  much  altercation,  both  parties 
agreed  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  citizens  of  Miletus,  who,  finding  the 
question  a  difficult  one,  sent  to  consult  the  oracle  at  Delphi  upon  it. 

4.  Being  ordered  by  the  oracle  to  adjudge  the  tripod  to  the  wisest 
man  that  could  be  found,  they  offered  it  to  their  fellow-citizen,  Thales, 
but  he  declined  to  take  it,  modestly  saying  that  many  wiser  men  than 
he  existed.  Thales  next  sent  it  to  Bias  of  Priene,  but  he  likewise 
declined  the  honorable  gift,  and  sent  it  to  another. 

5.  It  thus  passed  successively  through  the  hands  of  all  the  indi- 
viduals subsequently  classed  as  the  Seven  Wise  Men  ;  after  which 
the  tripod  was  consecrated  to  Apollo,  and  deposited  in  the  temple  of 
Delphi.  The  conservators  of  the  shrine  probably  foresaw  some  such 
conclusion  as  this,  when  they  took  the  vessel  out  of  the  hands  of  its 
finders  and  true  owners. 

22.  What  poetic  qualities  did  he  possess?  What  of  his  work  called  the  "Lament* 
lions?"  23.  What  improvement  did  lie  make  in  the  Greek  alphabet?  Of  what  was  h« 
'heinventcr?     What  of  his  faculties  ?     His  death?     His  works? 

LIX. —  .  Who  were  the  "  Seven  Wise  Men  of  Greece  V  2.  Where  did  these  seven 
♦.aged  meet  together  •    3  i,  5.   Relate  the  circumstance  that  gave  them  the  name  of  Ih* 


1 48  PERIOD  II  -  884  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 

6.  These  sages  endeavored  to  enlighten  and  improve  their  fellow- 
men,  by  disseminating,  in  the  shape  of  maxims  or  proverbs,  a  number 
of  moral  truths  and  prudential  precepts,  which  they  embraced  every 
opportunity  of  bringing  forward  and  enforcing.  This  is  a  mode  of 
preserving  and  circulating  useful  knowledge,  which  has  been  resorted 
to  by  the  early  instructors  of  every  people,  both  in  ancient  and  modern 
times. 

7.  In  rude  and  ignorant  ages,  and  in  the  absence  of  those  means  of 
instruction  which  are  now  possessed  by  mankind,  the  brief  maxims 
and  pithy  proverbs  in  which  the  results  of  experience  and  reflection 
were  embodied,  must  have  been,  indeed,  invaluable.  The  Seven 
Wise  Men  of  Greece  were  not  merely  inventors  of  popular  proverbs 
and  moral  sentences  ;  some  of  them  were  also  active  politicians  ;  one 
of  them  was  an  eminent  legislator,  and  another  a  distinguished  natural 
philosopher. 


CHAPTER   LX. 

The  Seven  Wise  Men,  continued. 

1.  Pittacus  was  born  at  Mitylene,  in  the  isle  of  Lesbos,  about 
650  B.  C.  He  distinguished  himself  by  his  valor  in  war  with  the 
Athenians,  and  afterwards  in  a  successful  attempt  to  dethrone  Melan- 
chrus,  the  tyrant  of  Lesbos.  His  grateful  countrymen  raised  him  to 
the  vacant  throne,  which  he  occupied  until  he  had  completely  tran- 
quillized the  state,  and  reformed  its  laws  and  institutions.  He  then 
resigned  his  authority,  and  retired  into  private  life.  He  died  in  the 
eighty-second  year  of  his  age,  about  568  B.  C. 

2.  The  following  are  a  few  of  his  maxims  : 

"  The  possession  of  power  discovers  a  man's  true  character." 
"  Whatever  you  do,  do  it  well." 

"  Do  not  that  to  your  neighbor  which  you  would  take  ill  from  him." 
*'  Know  your  opportunity." 

"  Never  disclose  your  schemes,  lest  their  failure  expose  you  to 
ndicule  as  well  as  to  disappointment." 

3.  Bias  was  a  native  of  Priene,  a  city  of  loriia.  The  time  of  his 
birth  is  uncertain.  He  was  of  a  very  generous  disposition,  and  enter- 
tained a  philosophical  contempt  for  riches.  His  oratorical  powers 
were  great,  and  he  is  said  to  have  met  his  death  from  over-exerting 
himself  while  pleading  the  cause  ot  one  of  his  friends.  That  he  was 
»vitty  as  well  as  wise,  the  following  anecdotes  and  maxims  will  show. 

Seven  Wise  Men.    6.   What  did  the3e  sages  endeavor  to  do  ?    What  of  this  method  of 

Preserving  knowledge  ?    7.   Whatof  the  value  of  maxima  and  proverbs  in  ignorant  agos  ? 
Vere  the  seven  wise  men  merely  inventors  of  proverbs? 
LX.  —  1.  What  of  Pittacus  ?    By  what  actions  did  he  distinguish  himself?    What  iiil 
he  do  upon  the  throne  of  Lesbos  ?    At  what  age  did  he  die  ?    2.   What  were  some  of  hia 
maxims  ? 
3    Who  was  Bias?    What  of  his  birth?    His  disposition?    His  oratorical  |»owe:j 


THE  SEVEN  WISE  MEN.  149 

4.  A  scoffer  having  asked  him  what  religion  was,  he  returned  n* 
answer.  His  interrogator  pressing  him  to  state  the  reason  of  his 
silence,  he  replied,  "It  is  because  you  ask  me  about  things  that  dc 
not  concern  you."  On  another  occasion,  being  at  sea  in  a  storm,  the 
sailors,  who  were  men  of  known  profligacy,  began,  in  their  terror,  to 
pray.  "  Be  silent,"  said  Bias,  "  lest  the  gods  discover  that  it  is  you 
who  are  sailing." 

5.  Among  his  maxims  were  :  — 

"  Endeavor  to  gain  the  good-will  of  all  men." 

"  Speak  of  the  gods  with  reverence." 

"  Esteem  a  worthy  friend  as  your  greatest  blessing." 

u  Yield  rather  to  persuasion  than  to  compulsion." 

"  The  most  miserable  man  is  he  who  cannot  endure  misery." 

'•  Form  your  plans  with  deliberation,  but  execute  them  with  vigor." 

'•  Do  not  praise  an  unworthy  man  for  the  sake  of  his  wealth." 

"  It  is  better  to  decide  a  difference  between  your  enemies  than  youi 

friends  ;  for,  in  the  former  case,  you  will  certainly  gain  a  friend,  and 

in  the  latter  lose  one." 

6.  Of  the  life  and  actions  of  Solon,  the  Athenian  sage  and  law- 
giver, some  account  has  already  been  given  ;  but  a  transaction  which 
occurred  between  him  and  Thales  of  Miletus  may  be  referred  to  here, 
as  it  exhibits  a  characteristic  difference  in  the  sentiments  of  these  two 
sages. 

7.  While  Solon  was  residing  at  Miletus,  on  a  visit  to  Thales,  he 
took  occasion  one  day  to  ask  the  reason  why  his  host  did  not  take  a 
wife.  Thales  eluded  the  question  at  the  moment,  but  soon  after 
introduced  to  Solon  a  person  who,  he  said,  had  just  arrived  from 
Athens.  Solon,  who  had  left  his  family  in  that  city,  eagerly  asked 
the  stranger  if  he  had  any  news. 

8.  The  pretended  traveller,  who  had  been  instructed  by  Thales  in 
what  he  should  say,  replied,  that  there  was  nothing  new  at  Athens, 
except  that  the  son  of  a  great  legislator,  named  Solon,  was  dead,  and 
had  been  followed  to  the  grave  by  a  great  concourse  of  citizens.  On 
hearing  these  mournful  tidings,  Solon,  who  was  of  a  gentle  and  affec- 
tionate nature,  burst  out  into  loud  lamentations. 

9.  Thales  hastened  to  relieve  his  mind  by  informing  him  that  he 
had  been  deceived  with  a  fabricated  tale,  and  added,  smiling,  that  it 
was  the  dread  of  encountering  such  sorrows  as  his  friend  had  just  felt, 
that  prevented  him  from  marrying  and  rearing  a  family. 

10.  The  following  are  some  of  the  precepts  of  Solon  :  — 
"  Reverence  God,  and  honor  your  parents." 

"  Mingle  not  with  the  wicked." 
11  Trust  to  virtue  and  probity  rather  than  to  oaths." 
"  Counsel  your  friend  in  private,  but  never  reprove  him  in  public." 
"  Do  not  consider  the  present  pleasure,  but  the  ultimate  good." 
*'  Do  not  select  friends  hastily  ;  but  when  once  chosen,  be  slow  to 
reject  them." 

What  of  the  cause  of  his  death?    4.   What  anecdotes  are  told  of  him?    5.    What  are 
some  of  his  maxims  ?    6,  7,  8.  9.  What  anecdote  is  told  of  Solon  and  Thales  1     10.  What 
■re  some  of  the  precepts  of  Solon  ? 
13* 


150  PERIOD  n.— 884  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 

11  Believe  yourself  fit  to  command  when  you  have  learned  to 
obey." 

u  Honors  worthily  gained  far  exceed  those  which  are  accidental. " 

11.  Chilon  was  born  in  Lacedaemon,  about  630  B.C.,  and  was 
one  of  the  ephori,  or  magistrates,  of  that  state.  He  said,  in  his 
axioms,  — 

"  The  three  most  difficult  things  are,  to  keep  a  secret,  to  employ 
ime  properly,  and  to  bear  an  injury." 

"  Never  speak  evil  of  the  dead." 

"  Reverence  old  age." 

"  Govern  your  anger." 

"  Be  not  over-hasty." 

"  The  tongue  ought  to  be  always  carefully  restiained,  but  especially 
at  the  festive  board." 

"  Seek  not  impossibilities." 

"  Let  your  friendship  be  more  conspicuous  in  adversity  than  in 
prosperity." 

"  Prefer  loss  to  ill-gotten  wealth  ;  the  former  is  a  trouble  only  once 
endured,  but  the  \atter  will  constantly  oppress  you." 

12.  Cleobulus  was  tyrant  or  King  of  Lyndus,  in  the  island  of 
Rhodes,  where  he  was  born  about  634  B.  C.  He  was  distinguished 
for  his  personal  strength  and  beauty,  as  well  as  for  his  wisdom.  He 
visited  Egypt  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  knowledge,  and  is  supposed 
to  nave  there  contracted  that  taste  for  enigmatical  writing  which  he 
afterwards  displayed.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy,  or  about  564 
B  C. 

13.  Besides  about  three  hundred  enigmatical  verses,  Cleobulus 
composed  many  maxims  in  plain  language,  such  as,  — 

"  Before  you  quit  y  Mir  house,  consider  what  you  have  to  do  ;  and 
when  you  return,  reflect  whether  it  has  been  done." 
"  Be  more  attentive  than  talkative." 
"  Educate  your  children." 
M  Detest  ingratitude." 
"  Endeavor  always  to  employ  your  thoughts  on  something  worthy." 

14.  Periander  was  born  at  Corinth,  in  the  year  665  B.  C.  His 
•ather  Cypselus  had  subverted  the  republican  institutions  of  Corinth,  and 
established  himself  as  its  tyrant.  Periander  succeeded  him  on  the 
throne,  and  conducted  the  government  with  firmness  and  prudence,  but 
with  great  severity.  Notwithstanding  his  reputation  for  wisdom,  he 
is  said  to  have  been  a  person  of  a  very  violent  and  cruel  disposition. 

15.  In  a  transport  of  rage  he  killed  his  wife  Melissa,  by  a  stroke 
of  his  foot,  and  afterwards  caused  some  women  to  be  burnt  to  death, 
whose  calumnious  accusations  had  stirred  him  up  to  the  commission 
of  the  barbarous  deed.  He  banished  his  younger  sen  for  expressing 
abhorrence  of  him  as  his  wife's  murderer ;  and  he  is  accused  of 
several  other  crimes  of  an  equally  atrocious  description.  He  died,  at 
the  age  of  eighty,  584  B.  C. 


II.  Who  was  Chilon?  What  office  did  he  hold?  What  are  some  of  his  sayings? 
12.  Who  was  Cleobulus?  For  what  was  he  distinguished  ?  For  what  purpose  did  he 
riait  Egypt  ?    What  of  his  death  ?     13.   What  are  some  of  his  maxims  ? 

14.   Who  was  Periander?    What  of  his  father?    How  did  Periander  conduct  the 


THE  SP.VEN  WISE  MEN.  15  J 

16.  Some  of  his  precepts  are  excellent,  but  they  would  have  come 
with  greater  force,  had  he  been  more  careful  to  reduce  them  to 
practice. 

"  In  prosperity,"  said  he,  "  be  moderate  ;  in  adversity,  be  prudent." 

'•  Pleasure  is  fleeting  ;  honor  is  immortal." 

"  Prudence  can  accomplish  all  things." 

"  The  intention  of  crime  is  as  sinful  as  the  act." 

"  Perform  whatever  you  have  promised." 


CHAPTER   LXI. 
The  Seven  Wise  Men,  continued. 

1.  Thales,  who  is  generally  regarded  as  the  greatest  of  the  Seven 
Sages,  was  born  at  Miletus,  in  Ionia,  about  the  year  640  B.  C.  His 
father  was  a  Phoenician,  who  had  settled  in  Miletus,  and  who  is  said 
to  have  claimed  descent  from  Cadmus,  the  founder  of  Thebes  in 
Boeotia. 

2.  Thales  early  manifested  the  superiority  of  his  talents,  and  was 
called  to  take  an  important  part  in  public  affairs.  But,  preferring  the 
tranquil  studies  of  philosophy  to  the  agitating  pursuits  of  politics,  he 
soon  relinquished  his  official  employments,  and  travelled  into  Crete 
and  Egypt  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with  the  learned  men  of  these 
countries,  who  were,  at  that  period,  considerably  in  advance  of  the  rest 
of  the  world  in  a  knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences. 

3.  In  Egypt,  Thales  is  said  to  have  received  some  valuable  instruc- 
tions in  mathematics  from  the  priests  of  Memphis,  and  to  have  taught 
them,  in  return,  a  method  of  measuring  the  altitude  of  the  pyramids 
by  means  of  their  shadows.  He  afterwards  returned  to  Miletus 
where  he  continued  his  philosophical  studies  with  unabated  ardor. 

4.  Thales  would  never  marry,  being,  according  to  his  own  state- 
ment, unwilling  to  expose  himself  to  the  anxieties  and  griefs  of 
matrimonial  life.  It  is  related,  that,  when  his  mother  first  advised 
him  to  take  a  wife,  he  answered,  "  It  is  yet  too  soon  ;"  and  when 
she  gave  him  a  similar  counsel  in  his  more  advanced  years,  he  said, 
"  It  is  now  too  late." 

5.  The  closeness  of  his  application  to  his  favorite  studies  gave  him 
a  habit  of  abstraction,  which  sometimes  placed  him,  as  it  has  done 
many  other  great  men,  in  rather  awkward  predicaments,  and  drew 
upon  him  the  ridicule  of  the  vulgar. 

6.  For  instance,  it  is  said  that,  being  one  night  absorbed  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  heavenly  bodies  when  he  should   have   been 

government?  What  was  his  disposition  ?  15.  What  are  some  of  the  actions  of  which 
he  is  accused  ?    At  what  ase  did  he  die  ?     16.   What  are  some  of  his  precepts  ? 

LXI. —  1.  Who  was  Thales?  Who  was  his  father?  2.  Whatof  Thales  in  earlylife-? 
Why  did  he  relinquish  his  employments?  To  what  countries  did  he  travel >  3.  What 
m'tructions  did  he  receive  in  Egypt?    What  did  he  teach  in  return  ? 

4.    Why  would  Thales  never" marry?     What  anecdote  is  related  of  him       5.   What 


152  PERIOD  n.— 884  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C. 

looking  to  his  feet,  he  fell  into  a  pit,  and  thereby  exposed  himsHf 
to  the  sarcastic  question  of  an  old  woman  who  came  to  his  assist- 
ance, "  Do  you  think  you  will  ever  be  able  to  comprehend  things 
which  are  in  heaven,  when  you  cannot  observe  what  is  at  your  very 
feet?" 

7.  He  died  at  the  age  of  ninety,  overcome  with  the  heat  and 
pressure  of  the  crowd  at  the  Olympic  games,  which  he  had  gone  to 
witness,  [550  B.  C] 

8.  Like  the  other  Grecian  sages,  Thales  made  and  circulated  many 
axioms,  of  which  the  following  may  serve  as  specimens  :  — 

"  The  same  measure  of  gratitude  which  we  show  to  our  parents, 
Ne  may  expect  from  our  children." 

"  It  is  better  to  adorn  the  mind  than  the  face." 

"  It  is  not  the  length  of  a  man's  tongue  that  is  the  measure  of  his 
wisdom." 

"  Never  do  that  yourself  which  you  blame  in  others." 

"  The  most  happy  man  is  he  who  is  sound  in  health,  moderate  in 
fortune,  and  cultivated  in  understanding." 

"Not  only  the  criminal  acts,  but  the  bad  thoughts  of  men  are 
known  to  the  gods." 

"  The  most  difficult  thing  is  to  know  one's  self;  the  easiest,  to  give 
advice  to  others." 

"  The  most  ancient  of  all  beings  is  God,  for  he  has  neither  begin- 
•ring  nor  end." 

"  All  things  are  full  of  God,  and  the  world  is  supreme  in  beauty, 
oecause  it  is  his  workmanship." 

"  The  greatest  of  all  things  is  space,  for  it  comprehends  all  things ; 
the  most  rapid  is  the  mind,  for  it  travels  through  the  universe  in  a 
single  instant ;  the  most  powerful  is  necessity,  for  it  conquers  all 
things ;  the  most  wise  is  time,  for  it  discovers  all  things." 

9.  Thales  used  also  to  express  his  thankfulness,  first,  that  he  was 
a  human  being,  and  not  a  beast ;  second,  that  he  was  a  man,  and  not 
a  woman ;  and,  third,  that  he  was  a  Greek,  and  not  a  barbarian. 

10.  Thales  was  the  first  true  philosopher  of  the  Grecian  race,  and 
founded  what  is  called  the  Ionic  school,  from  which  afterwards  ema- 
nated the  Socratic,  and  several  other  philosophical  systems.  None 
of  his  writings  have  been  preserved ;  but  from  what  has  been  recorded 
concerning  him  by  others,  it  appears  that  he  supposed  all  things 
to  have  at  first  been  formed  from  water  by  the  creative  power  of  God . 

11.  He  taught  that  the  earth  is  a  spherical  body  placed  in  the 
centre  of  the  universe ;  that  the  sun  and  stars  are  fiery  bodies,  nour- 
ished by  vapors  ;  that  the  moon  is  an  opaque  mass,  and  derives  its 
light  from  the  sun.  According  to  him,  the  divine  mind  pervades  and 
animates  all  things,  and  is  the  origin  of  all  motion. 

12.  He  believed  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  of  man,  am'  sup- 
habit  did  he  contract  from  application?  6.  What  anecdote  is  uold  of  him  ?  What  of 
his  death  ? 

8.    What  are  some  of  the  axioms  circulated  by  Thales?    9.   For  what  three  things  did 
Thales  express  his  thankfulness?     10.    What  school  did  he  found  ?    What  of  his  writ- 
ngs  ?    How  did  he  suppose  all  things  to  have  been  at  first  formed  ? 
11.  What  did  he  teach  ?    12.  In  what  did  he  believe  ?      n  what  sciences  did  he  make 


PHILOSOPHERS.  .153 

posed  that  not  only  the  inferior  animals,  but  even  all  substances, 
which,  like  the  magnet,  possess  the  power  of  motion,  have  a  soul,  or 
animating  principle.  He  made  great  advances  in  astronomy  and 
mathematics. 

13.  He  was  the  first  Greek  who  predicted  an  eclipse  of  the  sun, 
and  who  ascertained  that  the  solar  year  consisted  of  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  days.  He  taught  the  Greeks  the  division  of  the  heavens 
into  five  zones,  and  the  solstitial  and  equinoctial  points.  In  mathe- 
matics he  invented  several  fundamental  problems,  which  were  after 
wards  incorporated  into  Euclid's  Elements. 


CHAPTER    LXII. 

Philosophers.  —  Anaximander  ;  Pythagoras. 

1.  Anaximander,  the  disciple  and  friend  of  Thales,  and  the  first  of 
the  Greeks  who  taught  philosophy  in  a  public  school,  was  born  at 
Miletus,  in  the  year  610  B.  C.  He  adopted  in  part  the  opinions  of 
Thales,  but  differed  from  him  on  various  points.  He  held  that  the 
sun  occupies  the  highest  place  in  the  heavens,  the  moon  the  next,  and 
the  stars  the  lowest. 

2.  He  asserted  that  the  sun  is  twenty-eight  times  larger  than  the 
earth,  and  that  the  stars  are  globes  composed  of  fire  and  air,  and 
inhabited  by  gods.  Infinity  is,  according  to  Anaximander,  the  origin 
of  all  things,  and  into  it  they  must  be  ultimately  resolved.  The  vari- 
ous parts  may  change,  but  the  whole  is  immutable. 

3.  To  understand  this  doctrine,  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  know 
what  he  meant  by  infinity  ;  but,  unfortunately,  our  information  on  this 
point  is  altogether  defective.  Some  have  supposed  him  to  refer  to 
matter,  and  to  wish  to  inculcate  its  eternity  and  immutability  ;  while 
others  imagine  that  he  alluded  to  matter  and  motion,  taken  together, 
as  forming  one  infinite  universe. 

4.  Anaximander  made  several  improvements  in  mathematics  and 
astronomy,  and  was  the  first  who  delineated  upon  a  globe  the  map  of 
the  earth.  He  is  also  said  to  have  been  the  inventor  of  the  sun-dial ; 
but  it  seems  probable  that  this  instrument  was  previously  in  use  among 
the  Babylonians,  and  that  Anaximander  had  only  the  merit  of  intro- 
ducing it  into  Greece. 

5.  Anaximenes,  a  native  of  Miletus,  and  one  of  the  disciples  of 
Anaximander,  was  the  next  teacher  of  the  Ionic  school.  He  held 
that  air  is  God,  and  the  first  principle  of  all  things,  from  which  are  pro- 
duced, by  rarefaction  or  condensation,  fire,  water,  and  earth. 

6.  Pythagoras,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the  philosophers  of 

idvances?  13.  What  prediction  did  he  make?  vVhatdid  he  ascertain  of  the  solar  year? 
What  did  he  teach?     What  did  he  invent? 

LXII.  —  1.  Who  was  Anaximander?  What  of  his  opinions?  2.  What  did  he  assert 
of  the  sun,  moon  and  stars  ?  What  was  his  idea  of  infinity  ?  3.  How  has  this  idea  been 
txpla'med? 

4.  What  improvements  did  Anaximander  make?    What  instrument  is  he  said  to  havt 


154  PERIOD  II.  —884  B.  C.  TO  49Ct  B.  0. 

antiquity,  and  the  founder  of  the  Greek  school  of  Italy,  was  a  native 
of  the  island  of  Samos,  and  flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century  B.  C.  His  father,  who  was  a  merchant,  gave  him  an  excel- 
lent education,  and  he  is  said,  at  a  very  early  age,  to  have  exhibited 
many  remarkable  proofs  of  his  talents. 

7.  He  went  to  Egypt,  where  he  spent  twenty-two  years,  during 
which  time,  besides  making  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  its 
religious  and  scientific  knowledge,  he  learnt  the  three  modes  of  writ- 
ing practised  in  that  country,  namely,  the  epistolary-,  the  symbolical, 
and  the  hieroglyphical. 

8.  After  extensive  travels  and  great  study,  he  returned  to  Samos, 
where  he  employed  himself  in  instructing  his  countrymen  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  morality,  and  in  initiating  a  select  band  of  friends  and  disci- 
ples in  the  mystic  and  abstruse  philosophy  which  had  so  long  been  the 
object  of  his  study. 

9.  The  Samians  flocked  with  eagerness  to  receive  his  instructions, 
and  his  philosophical  school  was  in  a  very  flourishing  condition,  when 
he  suddenly  adopted  the  resolution  of  abandoning  Samos.  Passing 
into  Italy,  he  settled  at  Crotona,  a  city  of  Magna  Graecia,  as  those 
districts  colonized  by  Greeks  were  usually  called. 

10.  The  inhabitants  of  Crotona  were,  at  that  time,  notorious  for 
their  immorality ;  and  Pythagoras,  immediately  on  his  arrival,  ad- 
dressed himself  to  the  task  of  reforming  their  manners.  While  step- 
ping ashore,  he  observed  some  fishermen  hauling  their  nets,  which 
were  full  of  fishes.  He  purchased  the  draught,  and  caused  the  whole 
to  be  thrown  again  into  the  sea ;  improving  the  occasion  to  impress 
upon  the  Crotonians  his  doctrine  respecting  the  duty  of  refraining  from 
the  destruction  of  animal  life. 

11.  Availing  himself  of  the  art,  which  he  had  learned  from  the 
Egyptian  priests,  of  procuring  the  respect  of  the  ignorant  and  supersti- 
tious by  an  affectation  of  mystery,  and  an  assumption  of  supernatural 
powers,  he  soon  succeeded  in  attracting  the  attention  of  the  citizens, 
and  in  obtaining  a  favorable  hearing  for  his  lectures  on  morality.  And 
so  persuasive  is  said  to  have  been  his  eloquence,  that  the  Crotonians 
abandoned  their  licentious  and  corrupt  practices. 

12.  At  the  request  of  the  magistrates,  Pythagoras  also  established 
laws  for  the  future  governance  of  the  community.  He  then  opened  a 
school  of  philosophy,  and  his  popularity  now  having  become  very  great, 
between  two  and  three  thousand  individuals  were  soon  enrolled  as  his 
scholars. 

13.  Pythagoitis  regarded  the  sublime  doctrines  of  philosophy  as 
something  far  too  sacred  and  valuable  to  be  unreservedly  communi- 
cated to  ordinary  men.     Every  individual  who  applied  for  admission 

.nvented ?  5.  What  of  Anaximenes?  His  opinions?  6.  Who  was  Pythagoras  ?  What 
of  him?    His  father?     7.  How  did  he  spend  his  time  in  Egypt? 

8.  What  did  he  do  after  his  return  to  Samos?  9.  How  did  the  Samians  receve  his 
Instructions?  What  of  his  school?  Where  did  he  finally  settle?  10.  What  .if  the 
inhabitants  of  Crotona?  What  task  did  Pythagoras  undertake?  Relate  the  anecdote  of 
the  f  shermen. 

11.  What  did  he  avail  himself  of?  What  did  he  soon  succeed  in  doing?  What 
was  the  effect?  12.  What  next  did  Pythagoras  do?  What  of  his  school ?  His  popu- 
larity ? 


PYTHAGORAS.  .55 

\o  his  school  was  subjected  to  a  rigid  examination,  and  it  was  only 
those  whose  features,  conversation,  and  general  deportment,  pleased 
him,  and  of  whose  personal  character  he  received  a  favorable  account, 
that  were  received  as  his  disciples. 

14.  The  school  formed  a  society,  in  which  each  member  placed  all 
his  property.  The  pupils  were  subject  to  years  of  most  severe  disci- 
pline, mental  and  bodily.  Any  candidate  whose  patience  was  ex- 
hausted by  this  lengthened  probation,  was  permitted  to  withdraw  from 
the  society,  and  to  take  with  him  a  greater  amount  of  property  than 
he  had  contributed  to  the  general  stock.  His  funeral  obsequies  were 
then  celebrated  by  the  disciples,  and  a  tomb  erected  for  him,  as  if  he 
had  been  removed  by  death  — a  ceremony  which  was  intended  to  sig- 
nify how  utterly  that  man  is  lost  to  society  who  abandons  the  paths 
of  wisdom. 

15.  Those  candidates,  on  the  other  hand,  who  passed  with  credit 
througn  the  appointed  probation,  were  received  into  the  body  of  select 
disciples,  or  Pythagoreans  proper ;  they  were  admitted  behind  the 
curtain,  and,  after  having  sworn  not  to  divulge  what  they  should 
hear,  were  instructed  in  the  principles  of  natural  and  moral  philos- 
ophy. 

16.  Mathematics,  music,  astronomy,  politics,  and  morals,  by  turns 
engaged  their  attention,  and  the  sublimest  speculations  respecting  the 
nature  of  God,  and  the  origin  of  the  universe,  were  communicated  to 
them  in  direct  and  undisguised  language. 

17.  Those  whom  Pythagoras  instructed  in  this  plain  and  familiar 
manner  were  said  to  belong  to  the  esoteric,  or  private  school  ;  while 
those  who  attended  his  public  lectures,  in  which  moral  truths  were 
generally  delivered  under  a  symbolical  or  figurative  form,  were  consid- 
ered as  belonging  to  the  exoteric,  or  public  school. 


CHAPTER   LXIlI. 

Pythagoras,  continued.  —  JEsop. 

1.  The  members  of  the  esoteric  school  at  Crotona  were  about  six 
hundred  in  number.  They  lived  together,  as  in  one  family,  with 
their  wives  and  children,  in  a  public  building  called  the  common 
auditory.  The  whole  business  of  the  society  was  conducted  with  the 
most  perfect  regularity.  Every  day  was  begun  with  a  distinct  delib- 
eration upon  the  manner  in  which  it  should  be  spent,  and  concluded 

13.  What  did  Pythagoras  think  of  the  doctrines  of  philosophy  ?  What  was  necessary 
for  admission  to  his  school  ?     Who  were  only  admitted  as  his  disciples  ? 

14.  What  of  this  school  ?  What  of  the  discipline?  What  was  done  if  any  candidate's 
patience  was  exhausted?  15.  What  of  those  who  passed  through  the  probation? 
:6.  What  subjects  engaged  their  attention?  17.  What  of  the  esoteric  school?  The 
txoteric  t 

LXIlI.  —  1.  What  of  the  esoteric  school  at  Crotona  ?  How  did  the  members  !iv«7 
Mow  was  the  business  of  the  society  conducted  ?    2,  3,  4.  How  was  the  day  spent  ? 


.56  PERIOD  II.  —884  B.  C.  TO  493  B.  C 

with  a  careful  retrospect  of  the  events  which  had  occurred,  and  the 
business  which  had  been  transacted. 

2.  They  rose  before  the  sun,  that  they  might  pay  him  homage 
after  which  they  repeated  select  verses  from  Homer  and  other  poets 
and  made  use  of  music,  both  vocal  and  instrumental,  to  enliven  theij 
spirits  and  fit  them  for  the  duties  of  the  day. 

3.  They  then  employed  several  hours  in  the  study  of  science. 
These  were  succeeded  by  an  interval  of  leisure,  which  was  commonly 
spent  in  a  solitary  walk  for  the  purpose  of  contemplation.  The  next 
portion  of  the  day  was  allotted  to  conversation.  The  hour  imme- 
diately before  dinner  was  filled  up  with  various  kinds  of  athletic  exer- 
cises. 

4.  Their  dinner  consisted  chiefly  of  bread,  honey,  and  water ;  for, 
after  they  were  perfectly  initiated,  they  wholly  denied  themselves  the 
use  of  wine.  The  remainder  of  the  day  was  devoted  to  civil  and  do- 
mestic affairs,  conversation,  bathing,  and  religious  ceremonies. 

5.  While  teaching,  whether  in  public  or  in  private,  Pythagoras 
wore  a  long  white  robe,  a  flowing  beard,  and,  as  some  assert,  a  crown 
upon  his  head,  always  preserving  a  commanding  gravity  and  dignity 
of  manner.  Being  desirous  of  having  it  supposed  that  he  was  of  a 
superior  nature  to  ordinary  men,  and  not  liable  to  be  affected  by  their 
passions  and  feelings,  he  was  careful  never  to  exhibit  any  tokens  of 
joy,  sorrow,  or  anger,  and  to  appear  perfectly  tranquil  in  all  circum- 
stances. 

6.  Pythagoras  did  not  confine  his  instructions  to  the  Crotonians, 
but  visited  and  taught  in  many  other  cities  of  Italy  and  Sicily. 
Wherever  he  went,  he  obtained  many  disciples,  by  whom  he  was 
regarded  with  a  veneration  hardly  inferior  to  that  which  might  have 
been  entertained  for  a  god.  In  his  public  lectures  he  embraced  poli- 
tics as  well  as  morals,  and  by  his  denunciations  of  tyranny,  and  his 
exhortations  to  the  people  to  vindicate  their  rights,  he  stirred  up  the 
inhabitants  of  several  cities  to  throw  oflfthe  yoke  of  their  oppressors. 

7.  But  this  active  intermeddling  with  politics  soon  raised  against 
him  a  host  of  enemies,  and  ultimately  proved  the  cause  of  his  destruc- 
tion. The  aristocratic  party  throughout  the  whole  of  Magna  Graecia 
were  alarmed,  and  became  the  furious  opponents  of  the  Pythago- 
reans. 

8.  The  philosopher  himself  was  driven  from  place  to  place,  until  at 
last  he  came  to  Metapontum.  Here  his  enemies  raised  the  people 
against  him,  and  forced  him  to  fly  for  refuge  to  a  temple  dedicated  to 
the  muses,  in  which  he  miserably  perished  for  want  of  food. 

9.  For  some  time  his  disciples  were  everywhere  exposed  to  a  cruel 
persecution,  but  afterwards  they  regained  their  former  popularity  ;  his 
school  of  philosophy  was  reestablished,  statues  were  erected  in  his 
honor,  and  the  house  in  which  he  had  resided  at  Crotona  was  con 
verted  into  a  temple  of  Ceres. 

5.  What  was  the  dress  of  Pythagoras,  while  teaching?  His  manner?  Why  did  he 
always  appear  perfectly  tranquil  ?  6.  Did  Pythagoras  teach  in  any  other  cities  but  Cro- 
tona ?    How  was  he  regarded  ?    What  of  his  speaTung  on  political  subjects  ? 

7.  What  was  the  effect?  8.  What  happened  to  Pythagccal?  What  of  his  death 
B.  What  of  his  disciples  after  his  death  /    The  popularity    f  h»«  whool?    What  wer* 


PYTHAGORAS.  15? 

10.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  Pythagoras  was  upwards  of  eighty 
years  of  age.  He  left  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  all  of  whom  attained 
considerable  celebrity  for  their  intellectual  acquirements  The  sons 
succeeded  their  father  in  the  direction  of  his  philosophical  school,  and 
the  daughter  was  distinguished  for  her  learning,  and  wrote  an  able 
commentary  on  the  poems  of  Homer. 

11.  It  has  been  disputed  whether  Pythagoras  ever  committed  any 
of  his  doctrines  to  writing.  Several  compositions  have  been  attributed 
to  him,  but  their  authenticity  is  regarded  as  extremely  questionable. 
His  doctrines  are  only  to  be  gathered  from  his  disciples. 

12.  Concerning  the  Supreme  Being,  God,  Pythagoras  is  under- 
stood to  have  taught  that  he  is  the  soul  of  the  universe,  and  the  first 
principle  of  all  things ;  that  in  substance  he  resembles  light,  and  in 
nature  is  like  to  truth;  that  he  is  invisible,  incorruptible,  and  incapa- 
ble of  pain. 

13.  He  held  that  from  the  One  divine  mind  proceeded  four  orders 
of  intelligences,  namely,  gods,  daemons,  heroes,  and  the  souls  of  men. 
Of  these,  tho  gods  were  the  first  in  place ;  the  daemons,  second  ;  the 
heroes,  who  were  described  as  a  class  of  beings  with  bodies  composed 
of  a  subtle,  luminous  substance,  occupied  the  third  rank ;  and  the  hu- 
man mind  constituted  the  fourth. 

14.  The  gods,  daemons,  and  heroes,  dwelt  in  the  upper  air,  and 
exercised  a  beneficent  or  malignant  influence  on  men,  dispensing  at 
their  pleasure  sickness,  prosperity,  and  adversity.  The  human  soul, 
according  to  Pythagoras,  is  a  self-moving  principle,  composed  of  two 
parts  —  the  rational,  which  is  a  portion  of  the  divine  mind,  and  is 
seated  in  the  brain  ;  and  the  irrational,  which  is  the  source  of  the  pas- 
sions, and  is  situated  in  the  heart. 

15.  He  taught  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  of  souls,  and  accord- 
ingly his  followers  rigidly  abstained  from  the  use  of  animal  food,  and 
were  unwilling  to  take  away  the  life  of  any  living  creature  ;  it  being 
impossible  to  prove  that  in  felling  an  ox,  or  shooting  a  pigeon,  they 
were  not  dislodging  the  soul  of  some  celebrated  warrior  or  sage  of 
former  times,  or  perhaps  even  lifting  their  hands  against  the  lives  of 
some  of  their  own  deceased  relatives  or  friends.  Indeed,  Pythagoras 
actually  pushed  this  doctrine  so  far  as  to  assert  that  he  remembered  his 
having  gone  through  several  human  existences  previous  to  his  being 
Pythagoras. 

16.  According  to  this  philosopher,  the  sun  is  a  globe  of  fire,  placed 
in  the  centre  of  the  universe,  and  round  it  revolve  the  planets,  of 
which  the  earth  is  one.  The  sun,  moon,  and  stars  are  inhabited  by 
gods  and  daemons.  There  are  ten  celestial  spheres ;  that  of  the  earth, 
those  of  the  seven  planets,  that  of  the  fixed  stars,  and  an  invisible  one, 
named  the  antichthon,  situated  opposite  to  the  earth. 

conferred  on  him  by  the  Greeks  ?  10.  What  children  did  Pythagoras  leave?  What  o, 
them? 

11.  What  has  been  a  matter  of  dispute  in  regard  to  Pythagoras?  How  can  we  learn 
what  his  doctrines  were?  12.  What  did  he  teach  concerning  the  Supreme  Being  ?  i3 
14.  In  what  four  orders  of  intelligences  did  he  believe?     What  of  them? 

15.  What  other  doctrine  did  he  teach  ?  To  what  extent  did  Pythagoras  push  this  doc 
trine?  16.  What  of  the  sun,  moon  and  stars,  according  to  this  philosopher?  What  wa» 
the  antic'i'.hon? 

:  h 


158  PERIOD  II.  -  384  B.  C.  TO  <&3  B.  C. 

%1.  These  spheres,  in  moving  through  the  pure  ether  filling  spaces, 
emit  sounds ;  and  as  their  respective  distances  from  the  earth  corre- 
spond to  the  proportion  of  the  notes  in  the  musical  scale,  the  tones 
produced  are  varied  according  to  the  relative  distances,  magnitudes, 
and  velocity  of  the  several  spheres,  so  as  to  form  the  most  perfect  har- 
mony. 

18.  Thus,  according  to  Pythagoras,  is  produced  that  music  of  the 
spheres,  which  his  followers  fabled  that  he  alone  was  permitted  by  the 
gods  to  hear.  The  Pythagorean  explanation  of  eclipses  was,  that 
those  of  the  sun  are  caused  by  the  intervention  of  the  moon  between 
it  and  the  earth,  and  those  of  the  moon  by  the  interposition  of  the 
antichthon,  or  invisible  sphere. 

19.  From  this  brief  exposition  of  his  opinions,  it  will  be  seen,  that 
none  of  the  ancients,  upon  the  whole,  had  so  clear  an  idea  of  the  real 
economy  of  the  heavens  as  Pythagoras,  which  may  be  rationally  attrib- 
uted to  his  lengthened  stay  in  Egypt. 

20.  Pythagoras  attached  a  mysterious  importance  to  numbers,  both 
arithmetical  and  musical.  He  is  reported  to  have  taught  that  one,  or 
unity,  denotes  God,  or  the  animating  principle  of  the  universe;  that 
tico  is  emblematic  of  matter,  or  the  passive  principle  ;  that  three  signi- 
fies the  world  formed  by  the  union  of  the  two  former ;  and  that /our 
denoted  the  perfection  of  nature.  The  decade,  which  is  the  sum  of 
the  whole  of  these  numbers,  comprehends  all  arithmetical  and  musicai 
qualities  and  proportions. 

21.  Pythagoras  was  himself,  as  has  been  already  stated,  very  fond 
of  music,  in  the  science  of  which  he  was  deeply  versed.  He  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  the  discoverer  of  musical  ratios,  and  to  have  invent- 
ed the  monochord,  or  single-stringed  instrument,  with  movable  bridges 
for  measuring  and  adjusting  the  ratios  of  musical  intervals. 

22.  He  was  also  profound  in  geometry,  to  which  he  made  several 
important  additions.  The  celebrated  demonstration  in  Euclid,  rank- 
ing forty-seventh  in  the  first  book,  is  an  enduring  monument  of  his 
skill  in  this  department  of  science. 

23.  As  a  moral  teacher,  he  promulgated  many  sound  and  excellent 
precepts,  of  which  the  following  may  serve  as  specimens  :  — 

"  It  is  inconsistent  with  fortitude  to  abandon  the  post  appointed  by 
the  supreme  Lord  before  we  obtain  his  permission." 

"  No  man  ought  to  be  esteemed  free  who  has  not  the  perfect  com- 
mand of  himself." 

"  That  which  is  good  and  becoming  is  rather  to  be  pursued  than 
that  which  is  pleasant." 

"  Sobriety  is  the  strength  of  the  soul,  for  it  preserves  the  reason 
unclouded  by  passion." 

"  The  gods  are  to  be  worshipped  not  under  such  images  as  repre- 
sent the  forms  of  men,  but  by  simple  lustrations  and  offerings,  and 
with  purity  of  heart." 


17,  18.  What  of  the  music  of  the  spheres?  How  did  Pythagoras  explain  eclipses? 
19.  What  may  be  seen  from  this  exposition  of  his  opinions?  20.  What  importance  did 
Pytnagoras  attach  to  numbers?    What  did  he  teach  that  they  denoted? 

21.  What  did  he  invent?  22.  What  of  his  skill  in  geometry  and  mathematics? 
23.  What  are  some  of  his  jwecepts?     24.  What  of  .SJsop?    His  style  of  teaching? 


ASSYRIAN  AND  PERSIAN  WAR  "UPON  GREECE.  159 

24.  ^Esop,  the  celebrated  fabulist,  deserves  to  be  noticed  in  thi? 
place,  as  an  ingenious  and  successful  teacher  of  wisdom.  His  moral 
lessons,  veiled  as  they  were  under  an  allegorical  form,  were  not  less* 
important,  or  productive  of  less  durable  impressions,  than  those  of  his 
2minent  contemporaries  who  have  already  been  noticed.  He  was  a 
native  of  Phrygia,  and  was  born  about  the  year  GOO  B.  C. 

25.  In  person  he  was  very  deformed,  but  his  mind  fortunately  was 
cast  in  a  better  mould.  He  was  sold  as  a  slave  to  an  Athenian  named 
Demarchus,  and  during  his  residence  at  Athens  acquired  an  extensive 
knowledge  of  the  Greek  tongue.  He  was  afterwards  purchased  by 
Xanthus,  a  Samian  philosopher,  and  subsequently  became  the  prop- 
erty of  Idmon,  another  philosopher,  belonging  to  the  same  island. 
Idmon,  discovering  and  admiring  his  talents,  gave  him  his  liberty, 
after  which  iEsop  employed  himself  in  travelling  throughout  Greece, 
instructing  the  people  by  his  moral  apologues. 

26.  Having  arrived  in  Athens  soon  after  the  usurpation  of  the 
supreme  power  by  Pisistratus,  and  observing  that  the  Athenians  sub- 
mitted with  unwillingness  to  his  authority,  he  warned  them  of  the 
dangers  of  attempting  political  changes,  by  telling  them  the  fable  of 
the  frogs  who  petitioned  Jupiter  for  a  king. 

27.  He  was  at  last  put  to  death  by  the  citizens  of  Delphi,  who  were 
exasperated  by  the  freedom  with  which  he  condemned  their  vices 
This  event  is  supposed  to  have  occurred  about  the  year  561  B.  C, 
and,  consequently,  about  the  39th  year  of  iEsop's  age.  The  Athe- 
nians held  his  memory  in  such  respect  that  they  raised  a  statue  to  his 
honor. 


PERIOD    Til. 

FROM     THE     COMMENCEMENT     OF     THE    WAR     WITH     PERSIA,   493    B.    C, 
TILL    THE   CAPTURE   OF   ATHENS    BY    THE    LACEDAEMONIANS,   404    B.   0 


CHAPTER   LX1V. 

Assyrian  and  Persian  War  upon  Greece,  by  Darius. 

1.  At  a  very  early  period  in  the  history  of  the  world,  the  Assyrian 
empire  attained  a  high  degree  of  power  and  splendor,  and  for  many 
centuries  maintained  its  consequence  unimpaired.  At  length,  on  the 
death  of  one  of  its  monarchs,  named  Sardanapalus,  767  B.  C,  it  was 
divided  into  three  independent  portions  —  Assyria  proper,  of  which  the 
capital  was  Nineveh  ;  Babylonia,  of  which  the  capital  was  Babylon  ; 
and  Media,  of  which  the  capital  was  Ecbatana.  The  two  former  of 
these  states  were  afterwards  reunited,  under  the  name  of  Assyria. 

Where  was  he  bom?  25.  What  of  his  person  ?  By  what  person  was  he  bought  as  .i 
slave?     What  of  Idmon? 

26.  What  of  the  fable  of  Jupiter  and  the  frogs?  27.  What  of  his  death?  At  what  date 
iid  this  happen  ?    How  did  the  Athenians  respect  his  memory  ? 

I  XI V.  —  I.   What  of  the  Assyrian  empire?    How  was  it  afterwards  divided?    2   The 


160  PERIOD  III.  — 493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 

2.  To  the  eastward  of  this  empire  was  that  of  Persia,  one  of  iue 
piinces  of  which,  named  Cyrus,  became  heir  also  to  the  throne  of 
Media,  and  thus  conjoined,  in  his  own  person,  two  powerful  sovereign- 
ties. But  the  ambition  of  Cyrus  was  too  great  to  be  satisfied,  even 
with  the  extensive  sway  he  had  thus  legitimately  attained.  He 
formed  the  bold  design  of  subverting  the  Babylonian  empire,  and  of 
extending  his  authority  over  the  whole  of  western  Asia. 

3.  In  prosecution  of  this  scheme,  he  first  overran  Lydia,  dethroning, 
as  has  been  already  noticed,  Crcesus,  its  king,  and  then  entrusting  to 
one  of  his  generals,  named  Harpagus,  the  task  of  subjugating  the 
Greek  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  he  himself  marched  against.  Babylon, 
which  he  besieged  and  took  in  the  538th  year  before  the  Christian 
era. 

4.  Assyria,  Media,  Persia,  and  the  whole  of  Asia  Minor,  were 
thenceforth  included  under  the  general  title  of  the  Persian  Empire ; 
and  Cambyses,  the  son  and  successor  of  Cyrus,  extended  still  furthei 
the  boundaries  of  this  gigantic  sovereignty  by  the  conquest  of  Egypt. 

5.  It  need  scarcely  excite  surprise  that  the  ruler  over  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  richest  and  most  populous  regions  of  the  globe  should 
assume  the  proud  title  of  "  king  of  kings,"  and  that  even  his  Grecian 
opponents  should  habitually  speak  of  him  as  "  the  Great  King." 

6.  In  the  reign  of  Darius,  the  successor  of  Cambyses,  the  Ionian 
Greeks  of  Asia  Minor  revolted  against  the  Persian  government,  and 
sent  to  Greece,  to  solicit  assistance  (502  B.  C.)  It  is  related  that  the 
Ionian  messenger  had  well  nigh  prevailed  upon  Cleomenes,  King  of 
Sparta,  to  join  in  the  enterprise,  when  he  was  decided  against  it  by 
the  observation  of  his  daughter,  "  Fly,  father,  or  the  ambassador  will 
corrupt  you !" 

7.  At  this  time,  Artaphernes,  the  Persian  satrap,  or  governor  of 
Lydia,  instigated  by  Hippias,  the  expelled  tyrant  of  Athens,  who  had 
applied  to  him  for  support,  sent  an  insolent  message  to  the  Athenians, 
commanding  them  to  receive  back  Hippias,  if  they  wished  not  to  incui 
the  hostility  of  Persia. 

8.  The  Athenians,  exasperated  at  this  unjustifiable  attempt  at  dic- 
tation, immediately  resolved  to  assist  their  Asiatic  colonies  in  their 
resistance  to  the  overbearing  Persians,  and  for  that  purpose  dispatched 
twenty  ships  to  Miletus,  the  chief  city  of  the  Ionian  confederacy. 

9.  Thence  these  vessels  proceeded,  in  company  with  the  Ionian 
fleet,  to  Ephesus,  where  the  land  troops  debarked,  and  marched  against 
Sardis,  the  capital  of  Lydia.  This  city  they  captured  and  burnt,  under 
the  eyes  of  the  Persian  satrap,  Artaphernes  himself,  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  the  castle  or  stronghold  of  the  place. 

10.  But  a  large  army  of  Persians  was  soon  collected,  and  the 
combined  Greeks  were,  in  their  turn,  defeated.     The  Athenian  aux- 

empi re  of  Persia?  Cyrus?  What  design  did  he  form?  3.  How  did  he  prosecute  this 
Bcheme?  4.  What  countries  did  the  title  of  the  Persian  empire  include?  Howdid  Cam- 
byses, extend  the  empire  ?    5.  What  of  the  title  of  Cyrus  ? 

6.  What  of  the  Ionian  Greeks  during  the  reign  of  Darius?  What  story  is  lelated  of 
Cleomenes  and  his  daughter?  7.  What  message  was  sent  to  Athens  by  Artaphernes? 
S.  What  did  the  Athenians  resolve  to  do?  How  many  ships  did  they  send  ?  9  How  did 
toe  fleet  proceed  ?    What  of  Sardis  ? 


ASSYRIAN  AND  PERSIAN  WAR  UPON   SPARTA. 


!tfl 


iliaries  returned  home,  and  the  Greeks  of  Ionia,  after  a  protracts 
struggle,  were  once  more  obliged  to  succumb  to  Persia. 


Cleomenes  and  his  daughter. 

11.  Darius  was  greatly  enraged  when  he  received  intelligence  of 
the  burning  of  Sardis.  Shooting  an  arrow  into  the  air,  after  a  custom 
of  his  country,  he  prayed  that  Heaven  would  assist  him  in  punishing 
the  Athenians  for  the  share  they  had  had  in  that  transaction.  Lest 
he  should  forget  his  purposes  of  vengeance,  he  caused  an  attendant  to 
remind  him  of  the  conduct  of  the  Greeks  every  time  he  sat  down  to 
table. 

12.  Active  preparations  were  soon  after  commenced  for  an  invasion 
of  Greece.  An  immense  armament  was  fitted  out,  and  in  the  year 
493  B.  C,  it  proceeded,  under  the  command  of  a  general  named  Mar- 
donius,  towards  the  European  shores  of  the  ^Egean  Sea.  Meanwhile 
heralds  were  sent  to  all  the  Grecian  states,  demanding  a  tribute  of 
earth  and  water — the  oriental  symbols  of  submission. 


10.   What  happened  after  the  Persians  collected  ?     The  Ionian  Greeks?     11.  What  of 
Darius?    What  of  his  purposes  of  vengeance?     12.   What  of  the  preparations  to  invpde 
11 


162 


PERIOD   III.  —  493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  O. 


13.  Most  of  the  states  complied  with  the  demand,  but  Athens  anc 
Sparta  indignantly  refused.  In  this  they  acted  with  becoming  spirit 
but  they  disgraced  themselves  by  the  n»'irdi?r  of  the  unoffending  her 


Earth  and  water  presented  to  Darius. 

aids,  one  of  whom  they  threw  into  a  deep  well,  and  the  other  into  a 
pit,  scoffingly  telling  them  to  take  thence  their  earth  and  water. 

14.  Mardonius,  having  debarked  his  land  forces  upon  the  coast  of 
Macedonia,  sailed  to  the  southward  with  the  fleet,  but,  in  doubling  the 
cape  of  Mount  Athos,  he  encountered  a  furious  storm,  which  wrecked 
three  hundred  of  his  vessels,  drowning  no  less  than  twenty  thousand  of 
his  men. 

15.  His  land  army  was  equally  unfortunate,  being  surprised  during 
the  night  by  the  Thracians,  and  defeated  with  immense  slaughter. 
Discouraged  by  this  double  disaster,  Mardonius  collected  the  shattered 
remnants  of  his  fleet  and  army,  and  hastily  returned  to  Asia. 


CHAPTER   LXV. 

Battle  of  Marathon. 

1.    Darius,  more  intent  than  ever  on  the  subjugation  of  Greece, 
ordered  another  army  to  be  raised,  and  appointed  as  its  commanders, 

Greece?    In  what  year  did  it  start  ?    What  where  heralds  sent  to  demand?     13.   Whai 
states   refused  to  comply  with  this  demand?      How  did  they  punish  the    heralds? 
14.  What  happened  to  the  fleet  of  Mardonius?     15.  To  his  land  forces  ?    After  this  mis 
fortune  what  did  he  do? 
LXV.  —  1.   What  did  Darius  now  do  ?     What  force  did  he  collect?    U    What  did  this 


BATTLE  OF  MARATHON 


163 


Datis,  a  Median  nobleman,  and  Artaphernes,  son  of  the  satrap  of  the 
same  name,  who  has  been  already  mentioned.  The  force  corected  on 
this  occasion  consisted  of  five  hundred  thousand  men,  and  six  hundred 
ships. 


.-% 


Plain  of  Marathon. 

2.  This  formidable  body  first  attacked,  and  reduced  to  subjection, 
the  islands  of  the  yEgean.  Leaving  a  portion  of  their  troops  to  gar- 
rison these,  Datis  and  Artaphernes  landed  with  a  force  of  one  hundred 
thousand  foot  and  ten  thousand  horse,  on  the  coast  of  Attica,  near  a 
plain  called  Marathon,  which  is  only  distant  about  thirty  miles  from 
Athens. 

3.  Justly  alarmed  at  the  near  neighborhood  of  such  an  enemy,  the 
Athenians  applied  to  the  Spartans  for  aid  :  but  that  people  had  a 
superstition  which  prohibited  their  taking  the  field  before  the  moon 
was  at  the  full,  and  as,  at  the  time  of  the  application,  it  still  wanted 
five  days  of  that  period,  they  therefore  delayed  the  march  of  their 
troops. 

army  first  attack?     Where  did  the  commanders  land?     3.   To  whom  did  the  Athenian* 
apply  for  aid?     What  answer  did  they  receive?     4.    By  whom   were  the   Athenian* 


164  PERIOD  III.  — 493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 

4.  The  Athenians  were  compelled  to  meet  the  Persian  invaders 
unassisted,  except  by  a  gallant  band  of  one  thousand  Plataeans,  who, 
out  of  gratitude  for  the  protection  which  the  Athenians  had  often 
extended  to  them  against  the  power  of  Thebes,  hastened  to  the  aid  of 
their  friends  at  this  alarming  crisis. 

5.  Besides  these  Platseans,  the  Athenian  army  mustered  nine  thou- 
sand men,  exclusive  of  about  as  many  light-armed  slaves.  Small  a& 
this  force  was,  compared  with  the  overwhelming  multitude  of  the  Per- 
sians, it  was  resolved,  after  an  earnest  deliberation,  that  the  army 
should  adopt  the  bold  course  of  advancing  to  meet  the  enemy  in  the 
open  country,  (490  B.  C.) 

6.  According  to  the  Athenian  custom,  ten  generals  were  appointed 
to  command  the  army,  one  being  taken  from  each  of  the  ten  wards  of 
Attica,  and  each  general  being,  in  turn,  invested  with  the  supreme 
authority  for  a  single  day.  But  Aristides,  one  of  these  commanders, 
and  a  man  of  singular  wisdom  and  probity,  perceiving  the  inconven- 
iences" and  dangers  of  this  arrangement,  resigned  his  day  in  favor  of 
Miltiades,  another  of  the  generals,  of  tried  military  talents. 

7.  The  example  of  Aristides  being  followed  by  the  rest,  Miltiades 
vas  invested  with  the  sole  command.  He  was  thus  afforded  an  oppor- 
tunity of  adopting  such  measures  as  were  necessary  to  give  even  a 
chance  of  success  to  his  little  army,  and  acted  with  a  prudence  and 
skill  that  amply  justified  the  confidence  which  his  brother  officers  had 
reposed  in  him. 

8.  Finding  the  Persian  host  encamped  on  the  plain  of  Marathon, 
Miltiades  took  up  a  position  on  the  declivity  of  a  hill  about  a  mile  dis 
tant  from  the  enemy.  To  impede  the  motions  of  the  Persian  cavalry 
he  caused  the  intermediate  space  to  be  strewed  during  the  night  with 
trunks  and  branches  of  trees.  On  the  following  morning  he  drew  out 
his  troops  in  battle  array,  placing  the  Athenian  freemen  on  the  right, 
the  Plataeans  on  the  left,  and  the  armed  slaves  in  the  centre. 

9.  The  Persian  army  was  a  mixed  multitude,  composed  of  levies 
from   the    numerous   tribes   and   nations   which   acknowledged    the 
authority  of  the  Great  King.     Some  of  them  were  armed  with  spears, 
swords,  and  battle-axes ;    but  the  greater  part  fought  with  arrow? 
darts,  and  other  missile  weapons. 

10.  They  carried  in  their  left  hands  light  targets  of  reeds  or  ozieM 
and  their  bodies  were,  in  some  instances,  covered  with  thin  plates  of 
metal.  Their  defensive  armor,  however,  was  not  to  be  compared  to 
that  of  the  Athenians,  and  by  no  means  fitted  the  Asiatics  to  sustain 
the  shock  of  the  dense  Grecian  phalanx. 

11.  Of  this  Miltiades  was  well  aware,  and  he  caused  his  soldiers 
to  advance  at  a  running  pace  to  the  attack,  that  the  bowmen  and  jave- 
lin throwers  might  have  as  short  space  as  possible  for  the  use  of  their 
missiles,  and  that  the  Athenian  spearmen  might  bear  down  and  break 

assisted?  What  was  their  motive?  5.  What  other  forces  did  the  Athenians  have? 
Whatdid  they  resolve  to  do  ?  6.  What  was  now  done  according  to  the  custom  of  Athens? 
What  of  Aristides  ?  7.  Who  received  the  sole  command  ?  What  measures  did  he  adopt  ? 
What  of  his  skill  and  prudence?  8.  Where  did  he  take  up  his  position  ?  How  did  he 
endeavor  to  impede  the  Persian  cavalry?  How  did  he  dispose  his  troops?  9,  10.  What 
•>f  the  Persian  ar-iy  ?    How  were  they  armed?     II.  How  did  Miltiade*  cause  his  soldier* 


RATTLE  OF  MARATHON. 


16o 


open  the  ranks  of  the  more  slightly  armed  Persians      The  movement 
was  completely  successful. 


Xerxes  at  the  head  of  his  army. 

12.  At  first,  indeed,  the  Grecian  centre,  composed  of  slaves,  w.is: 
broken  by  the  enemy  ;  but  the  Athenian  and  Plataean  freemen  on  the 
two  wings  carried  all  before  them,  and  then  closing  in  upon  tht 
Persian  troops  who  had  discomfited  their  centre,  overthrew  them  like 
wise,  and  remained  the  undisputed  masters  of  the  field. 

13.  The  Persians,  panic-struck,  fled  to  their  ships,  pursued  actively 
and  slaughtered  in  vast  numbers,  by  the  victorious  host  of  Miltiades. 
Upwards  of  six  thousand  Persians  fell  in  this  memorable  engagement, 
while,  on  the  side  of  the  Athenians,  only  one  hundred  and  ninety-two 
individuals  perished,  among  whom,  however,  were  two  of  the  ten 
renerals,  and  several  persons  of  distinction.  Seven  of  the  Persian 
vessels  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Greeks  ;  the  rest  returned  to  Asia. 

14.  Among  those  who  died  at  Marathon  was  Hippias,  the  exiled 
tyrant  of  Athens,  who,  to  sum  up  his  lamentable  degradation,  had 
accompanied  and  guided  the  Persians  on  this  expedition  against  the 
land  he  once  ruled  with  honor  and  applause. 

15.  On  the  day  after  the  battle  the  Lacedaemonian  troops  arrived 
having  quitted  Sparta  as  soon  as  it  was  full  moon,  and  hurried  by 
forced  marches  to  the  assistance  of  the  Athenians.  After  contem- 
plating with  deep  interest  the  scene  of  so  glorious  a  victory,  and 

to  advance  ?  12.  Did  this  measure  succeed  1  13  What  was  the  fate  of  the  Persians  ? 
Their  loss?  The  loss  of  the  Athenians?  14.  What  of  Hippias?  15.  What  of  the 
Lacedaemonian  troops  ? 


166 


PERIOD  III.— 493  B.C..  TO  404   B.C. 


besto"  hu    leserved  praises  on  the  valor  of  their  allies,  they  rotuTueu 
home 


..^C'  -~ 


-_/ 


Persian  ship  oj  war. 


CHAPTER   LXVI. 

Miltiades.  —  Aristides.  —  Themistoclrs. 


1.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  joy  of  the  Athenians  at  the  tilting* 
a' this  great  battle,  and  the  merits  of  Miltiades  were  at  first  enthusi- 
astically acknowledged  and  rewarded  with  the  highest  honors  of  the 
republic ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  he  was  treated  by  his  fickle 
countrymen  with  the  most  disgraceful  ingratitude. 

2.  Having  been,  at  his  own  request,  appointed  to  command  a  fleet 
of  seventy  ships,  raised  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  certain  islands  of 
the  iEgean,  which  had  taken  part  with  Persia,  he  was  successful  in 
mastering  several  of  them,  but  failed  in  an  attack  upon  Paros. 
Thereupon  the  Athenians  immediately  raised  a  clamor  against  him, 

I. XVI.  —  1.  How  was  Miltiades  received  by  the  Athenians?  How  did  they  treat  him 
wine  lime  afterwards  ?    2.   What  was  the  cause  of  this  ?    3.    Who  defended  him  on  hii 


MILTIADES.-  ARISTIDES. —THEMISTOCLES  167 

and  accused  him  of  having  been  bribed  by  the  Persians  to  raise  the 
siege  of  that  place. 

3.  He  was  tried  on  this  charge  by  the  assembly  of  the  people,  and, 
notwithstanding:  the  pleadings  of  his  brother  Tesagoras,  who  conducted 
the  defence  for  Miltiades,  then  unable  to  act  for  himself  in  consequence 
of  a  wound  received  before  Paros,  the  victor  of  Marathon  was  con- 
demned by  his  fickle  and  thankless  country,  and  sentenced  to  pay  a 
fine  of  fifty  talents  —  about  fifty  thousand  dollars  !  Being  incapable 
of  raising  so  large  a  sum,  he  was  thrown  into  prison,  where  he  died 
soon  after  of  a  mortification  brought  on  by  his  wound,  (489  B.  C  ) 

4.  It  was  even  said  that  the  Athenians  would  not  allow  his  body 
to  be  buried  until  his  son  Cimon,  who  was  then  very  young,  raised 
money  and  paid  the  fine.  But  the  glory  of  Miltiades  survived,  and 
although  his  countrymen  persecuted  him  living,  they  revered  him 
dead.  It  seems  to  be  one  of  the  anomalies  of  human  nature,  in  all 
ages,  to  spurn  living  merit,  and  to  respect  it  only  when  its  possessor 
is  beyond  the  reach  either  of  applause  or  reproach. 

5.  At  the  distance  of  half  a  century,  a  picture  of  the  battle  of 
Marathon  was  painted  by  order  of  the  state,  and  the  figure  of  Mil- 
tiades was  represented  in  the  foreground,  animating  his  troops  to 
victory. 

6.  The  victory  of  Marathon,  which  saved  the  liberties  of  the 
whole  of  Greece,  added  also  greatly  to  the  respect  and  consideration 
in  which  Athens  was  held  ;  and  the  commanding  talents  of  several 
individuals,  who  subsequently  directed  in  succession  the  affairs  of 
.that  republic,  contributed  to  extend  still  further  its  power  and  influ- 
ence. 

7.  Among  the  galaxy  of  brilliant  and  able  men  at  this  time  living 
in  Athens,  none  held  a  more  conspicuous  place  than  Aristides  and 
Themistocles,  who,  opposed  to  each  other  in  almost  everything  else, 
were  emulously  active  in  their  exertions  to  promote  the  interests  of 
their  common  country.  Aristides,  who  has  already  been  named  as 
one  of  the  ten  generals  of  the  army  which  conquered  at  Marathon, 
was  the  son  of  a  person  of  moderate  fortune,  named  Lysimachus. 
Themistocles  was  also  descended  from  a  respectable  Athenian  family. 

8.  These  two  remarkable  individuals  were  companions  in  boyhood, 
and  are  said  to  have  even  then  exhibited  strong  indications  of  the 
dissimilarity  of  their  dispositions.  Aristides  was  calm,  moderate, 
sandid,  and  upright:  Themistocles,  bold,  enthusiastic,  wily,  and 
plausible. 

9.  Two  leading  parties,  as  has  already  been  adverted  to,  existed 
among  the  Athenians ;  namely,  the  aristocratic  and  the  democratic. 
Aristides  attached  himself  to  the  former,  Themistocles  to  the  latter. 
They  soon  became  the  leaders  of  their  respective  parties,  and  were 
thus  forced,  both  by  their  position  and  the  difFtrences  of  their  views, 
into  almost  continual  opposition. 

trial  ?  What  fine  was  he  sentenced  to  pay  ?  What  of  his  death  7  4.  What  was  said  in 
regard  to  his  burial?  What  of  Miltiades  after  his  death?  5.  What  was  done  half  a 
century  later?  6.  What  are  some  of  the  results  of  the  battle  of  Marathon'1  7.  Who 
was  Aristides?    Themistocles?    8.   What  of  them  ? 

1    To  what  parties  did  they  attach  themselves  ?     Into  what  positions  vere  they  thui 


168 


PERIOD  III.  — 493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 


10.  The  character  of  Aristides  stood  deservedly  high  for  wisdom 
and  probity ;  but  Themistocles  was  possessed  of  great  oratorical 
powers,  and  his  persuasive  eloquence  often  enabled  him  to  triumph 
over  the  unadorned  good  sense  of  his  rival. 

11.  Far  from  being  disheartened,  however,  by  such  occurrence?, 
Aristides  wa  ted  with  patience  till  the  people  should  come  to  a  sounder 
opinion,  exerting  himself  in  the  mean  time  to  prevent,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  bad  consequences  which  he  expected  to  follow  from  their 
imprudent  decisions. 

12.  In  the  year  subsequent  to  the  battle  of  Marathon,  Aristides 
was  elected  first  archon,  or  chief  magistrate  of  the  republic;  and  in 
this  situation  he  gave  so  many  proofs  of  his  uprightness  and  impar- 
tiality, that  he  was  honored  with  the  'surname  of  "  the  Just,"  and 
many  of  the  citizens  referred  their  disputes  to  his  single  decision,  in 
preference  to  carrying  them  before  the  ordinary  courts  of  justice 


Aristides  and  the  Countryman. 
13.    Envious  of  tne  civic  honors  which  had  been  conferred  upon  his 

(breed  ?  10.  How  was  the  character  of  Aristides  regarded  ?  What  was  Themistocles 
•ften  enabled  to  do?  11.  How  did  Aristides  conduct  himself  on  these  occasions? 
2.  What  of  his  election  to  the  office  of  archon?    What  title  was  given  to  him? 


ATHENS  INCREASES  HER  NAVY.  169 

^val,  Themistocles  took  advantage  of  this  circumstance  to  raise  and 
spread  an  injurious  rumor,  to  the  effect  that  Aristides  was  endeavor- 
ing to  centre  all  authority,  judicial  as  well  as  civil,  in  his  own  person, 
as  a  preliminary  step  to  establishing  himself*  in  absolute  and  unconsti- 
tutional power. 

14.  It  appears  surprising  that  the  Athenians,  who  had  bestowed 
lpon  Aristides  the  title  of  "  the  Just,"  and  who  had  had  so  many 

opportunities  of  judging  of  his  moderation,  and  unassuming  excellence 
of  character,  should  have  given  any  credit  to  these  reports.  But  the 
usurpation  of  Pisistratus  Was  still  too  recent  to  permit  the  Athenians 
iO  forget,  that,  under  a  cloak  of  moderation  and  patriotism,  may  lurk 
the  most  extreme  and  dangerous  spirit  of  personal  ambition. 

15.  Alarmed,  therefore,  at  the  very  allegation  that  a  popular  leader 
was  again  forming  designs  against  the  republican  constitution,  they 
rashly  resorted  to  the  ostracism  —  the  protection  provided  against 
such  dangers  —  and  condemned  the  virtuous  Aristides  to  a  ten  years* 
banishment.  An  anecdote  is  related,  with  reference  to  this  transac- 
tion, which  affords  a  curious  example  of  a  feeling,  surprising  but  not 
uncommon,  in  the  human  breast. 

16.  While  the  ostracism  was  proceeding,  a  country  voter  who 
could  not  write  came  up  to  Aristides,  whom  he  did  not  personally 
know,  and  requested  him  to  write  the  name  of  Aristides  on  his  shell. 
"Did  this  man  ever  injure  you?"  asked  Aristides.  "No,"  replied 
the  citizen,  "  nor  do  I  even  know  him ;  but  I  am  weary  of  hearing 
him  everywhere  called  '  the  Just.'  "  Without  saying  another  word, 
Aristides  wrote  the  required  name  upon  the  shell,  and  returned  it  to 
the  countryman. 


CHAPTER    LXVII. 

Athens  increases  her  Navy.  —  Xerxes'  Preparations  for  invad- 
ing Greece. 

1.  Though  Themistocles,  whose  ascendency  in  the  councils  of 
Athens  was  now  undisputed,  could  not  boast  of  that  pure  patriotism 
which  animated  his  banished  rival,  he  had  an  insatiable  desire  of 
fame  ;  and  as  he  perceived  that  he  could  best  extend  his  own  reputa- 
tion by  promoting  the  welfare  of  his  country,  he  labored  with  as  much 
zeal  to  advance  its  interests  as  if  he  had  been  influenced  by  the 
strongest  sense  of  duty. 

2.  So  great  was  his  thirst  for  preernjnence,  that  the  glory  which 
Miltiades  acquired  at  Marathon  threw  him  for  a  time  into  a  deep 
melancholy  :  on  being  asked  the  cause  of  this,  he  replied  that  "  the 
trophies  of  Miltiades  wpuld  not  allow  him  to  sleep."     When  he  had 

13.    What  of  the  rumor  spread  by  Themistocles  ?     14.   What  credit  was  given  to  this 

report  by  the  Athenians?     What  of  the  usurpation  of  Pisistratus?     15.   What  measure 

was  taken  ?    To  what  was  Aristides  condemned?     16.  What  anecdote  is  related  of  him? 

T_,3£VtI.  —  1.   What  of  Themistocles  ?     Hqw  could  he  best  extend  his  own  reputation  ? 

15 


170  PERIOD  III.— 493  B  C.   TO  404  B.C. 

acquired  influence  in  the  republic,  a  field  for  distinction  soon  presented 
itself. 

3.  The  commerce  of  Athens  having  for  some  time  suffered  from 
the  hostility  of  the  inhabitants  of  .^Egina,  Themistocles  advised  his 
countrymen  to  appropriate  the  produce  of  the  silver  mines  of  Mount 
Laurium,  which  had  hitherto  been  annually  divided  among  the  citi- 
zens, to  the  construction  of  a  fleet  for  the  purpose  of  chastising  those 
troublesome  islanders. 

4.  The  Athenians  followed  his  counsel  ;  one  hundred  galleys  were 
constructed,  and  with  these  Themistocles  effectually  broke  the  naval 
strength  of  ^Egina.  Athens  was  now  the  first  maritime  power  of 
Greece,  but  Themistocles  still  continued  to  augment  the  number  of 
its  vessels  of  war,  until  they  amounted  to  the  number  of  two  hundred 
trireme  galleys. 

5.  He  acted  thus  from  a  conviction  that  the  Persians  would  renew 
their  attempts  to  subvert  the  liberties  of  the  Grecian  states,  and  because 
he  foresaw  what  importance  in  such  a  case  a  well-equipped  fleet  would 
be,  either  for  external  defence,  or  as  a  refuge  to  which  the  citizens 
might  betake  themselves  if  overcome  by  the  invaders. 

6.  Nor  did  Themistocles  err  in  his  anticipation.  On  receiving 
intelligence  of  the  defeat  of  his  army  at  Marathon,  Darius  resolved  on 
fitting  out  another  armament,  on  a  still  greater  scale  than  the  first, 
for  the  subjugation  of  Greece.  A  revolt,  however,  which  occurred  in 
Egypt,  interrupted  his  preparations,  and  death,  soon  after,  terminated 
al!  his  earthly  designs,  (485  B.C.) 

7.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Xerxes,  who,  after  suppressing 
the  Egyptian  revolt,  prepared  to  carry  into  effect  his  father's  projects 
against  Greece.  Heralds  were  again  sent  to  all  the  Grecian  states, 
with  the  exception  of  Athens  and  Sparta,  which  had  treated  the 
Persian  messengers  so  cruelly  on  a  former  occasion,  to  demand  earth 
and  water,  in  token  of  submission  ;  and  many  of  the  smaller  states 
again  granted  the  required  acknowledgment. 

8.  Four  years  were  spent  by  Xerxes  in  raising  an  army,  building 
a  fleet,  and  cutting  a  canal  across  the  isthmus  which  connects  Mount 
Athos  with  the  continent  of  Greece.  This  passage  was  made  in 
order  to  enable  the  Persian  vessels  to  continue  their  progress  straight 
southward,  instead  of  sailing  round  the  dangerous  promontory  of 
Athos,  where  the  fleet  of  Mardonius  had  formerly  been  wrecked. 
The  preparations  being  at  length  completed,  Xerxes  himself  assumed 
the  command  of  the  expedition,  and  directed  his  march  towards  the 
Hellespont. 

9.  The  army  by  which  he  was  accompanied  was  the  largest,  per- 
haps, ever  collected,  consisting  of  one  million  seven  hundred  thousand 
infantry,  and  four  hundred  thousand  cavalry.     If  to  these  are  added 

2.  How  did  the  glory  of  Miltiades  affect  him  ?  3.  What  of  the  inhabitants  of  iEgina  .' 
How  did  Themistocles  propose  to  chastise  them?  4.  What  was  now  done?  What  of 
the  naval  power  of  Greece  ?    To  what  extent  was  it  increased  ? 

5.  Why  was  this  done?  Of  what  importance  was  a  fleet  to  the  Athenians  ?  G.  What 
diil  Darius  determine  on  after  the  battle  of  Marathon  ?  What  of  his  death?  7.  What 
U  Xerxes?  His  heralds?  8.  How  did  he  spend  four  years  ?  Why  did  he  take  itua 
menvire?     ^V'here  did  he  direct  l»i«  march?     9.    What  was  the  number  of  }}is  army  < 


XERXES'  PREPARATIONS  FOR  INVADING  GREECE.      171 

the  immense  crowds  of  slaves  and  women  who  followed  the  troops,  it 
is  supposed  that  the  whole  would  amount  to  upwards  of  four  millions 
of  you  Is. 


'&.-} 


Xerxes  bowing  to  the  rising  sun. 

10.  The  fleet  consisted  of  twelve  hundred  ships  of  war,  and  three 
thousand  transport  vessels,  and  carried  about  six  hundred  thousand 
men.  It  is  said  that,  on  one  occasion,  while  reviewing  this  mighty 
host,  Xerxes  was  affected  even  to  tears  by  the  reflection  that  not  one 
individual  of  all  the  thousands  then  before  him  would  be  alive  a  hun- 
dred years  after. 

11.  Yet  such  is  the  inconsistency  of  man's  nature,  that,  while  this 
oriental  despot  was  vainly  lamenting  over  the  brevity  of  human  life, 
he  was  preparing,  without  compunction  or  regret,  to  shorten  still  fur- 
ther the  allotted  span  of  thousands  of  his  species,  and  to  add  all  the 
calamities  of  war  to  the  other  evils  incidental  to  life. 

12.  To  facilitate  the  passage  of  his  army  from  Asia  into  Europe, 
Xerxes  caused  a  bridge  of  boats  to  be  formed  across  the  Hellespont, 
between  two  towns  called  Abydos  and  Sestos,  where  the  strait  is  less 
than  a  mile  in  width ;  but  a  violent  storm  arose,  and  the  bridge  was 
destroyed. 

13.  Xerxes,  who  was  a  man  of  ungovernable  passions,  was  trans- 
ported with  fury  when  he  heard  of  this  occurrence,  and  with  equal 
folly  and  cruelty,  commanded  all  the  workmen  who  had  been  employed 
in  constructing  the  bridge,  to  be  put  to  death. 

14.  In  a  spirit  of  still  greater  extravagance  and  absurdity,  he  is  said 

■0.  What  was  tha  number  of  his  fleet?    What  anecdote  is  related  of  him?     11.  What 
it  the  same  time  was  he  preparing  to  do? 

12.  What  of  the  bridge  Xerxes  caused  to  be  made?  What  happened  to  this  bridge? 
3.  What  did  Xerxes  do  when  he  heard  of  its  destruction?     14    What  is  he  said  to  have 


172 


PKRIOD  III.— 493  B.  C.  TO  401  B.  C. 


to  have  caused  the  waters  of  the  Hellespont  to  be  beaten  with  rods, 
and  fetters  to  be  dropped  into  the  strait,  in  token  of  his  determination 
to  curb  its  turbulence,  while  his  servants  addressed  it  in  the  following 
terms  :  — "  It  is  thus,  thou  salt  and  bitter  water,  that  thy  master  pun- 
ishes thy  unprovoked  injury,  and  he  is  determined  to  pass  thy  treach- 
erous streams,  notwithstanding  all  the  insolence  of  thy  malice." 

15.  Another  bridge,  consisting  of  a  double  line  of  vessels,  strongly 
anchored  on  both  sides,  and  joined  together  by  hempen  cables,  was 
then  constructed,  and  trunks  of  trees  having  been  laid  across  the  decks 
of  the  vessels,  the  whole  was  smoothly  covered  with  planks,  so  as  to 
afford  an  easy  passage  for  the  troops. 

16.  Seven  days  and  nights  were  consumed  by  the  Persians  in  cross- 
ing this  extraordinary  bridge,  after  which  Xerxes  advanced  through 
Thrace,  Macedonia,  and  Thessaly,  towards  the  southern  parts  of 
Greece,  receiving  the  submission  of  the  various  northern  states  which 
he  visited,  while  his  fleet  (crossing  what  is  now  called  the  Gulf  of 
Contessa)  passed  through  the  canal  at  the  isthmus  of  Athos,  and 
afterwards  shaped  its  course  likewise  to  the  southward. 


CHAPTER    LXVIII. 

Advance  of  the  Persian  Army. 


««T\>w* 


Persians  worshipping  the  sun. 

i  Meanwhile,  those  Greek  states  which  had  refused  to  submit  to 
.ho  Persians,  were  vigorously  preparing  to  meet  the  approaching 
invaders.  A  congress  of  deputies  was  held  at  Corinth,  at  which 
measures  were  agreed  upon  for  the  common  defence. 

done  to  the  Hellespont?    How  did  his  servants  address  the  water?     15.  How  was  another 
bridge  constructed  ?     16.  How  long  were  the  Persians  in  crossing?    Where  did  his  army 
proceed  ?     His  fleet  ? 
LXVIII.  —  1.  What  of  the  Greek  3tates  which  had  refused  to  submit  to  the  Persians  J 


ADVANCE   C*    THE  PERSIAN    AKMY.  173 

2.  It  is  impossible  to  withhold  our  admiration  of  the  truly  astonish- 
ing intrepidity  of  the  Greeks  at  this  momentous  time.  They  did  not 
allow  themselves  to  despond  even  for  an  instant,  fearful  as  were  the 
odds  against  them.  Drawing  to  the  utmost  upon  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  the  confederated  states,  all  the  military  force  which  they  had 
to  oppose  to  the  countless  hosts  of  Persia  did  not  exceed  sixty  thou- 
sand freemen,  and  perhaps  about  an  equal  number  of  armed  slaves. 

3.  As  if  to  contribute  to  their  discouragement,  the  responses  which 
the  Greeks  obtained  from  the  oracle  of  Delphi  were  dark  and  menac- 
ing. The  Spartans  were  told,  that  they  could  only  be  saved  by  the 
voluntary  death  of  a  king  of  the  race  of  Hercules,  and  the  Athenians 
were  addressed  in  the  following  language  :  —r 

4.  "  All  else,  within  Oecropian  bounds  and  the  recesses  of  divine 
Clthaeron,  shall  fall  :  the  wooden  walls  alone  Jupiter  grants  to 
Minerva  to  remain  inexpugnable,  a  refuge  to  you  and  your  children. 
Wait  not  therefore  the  approach  of  horse  or  foot,  an  immense  army, 
coming  from  the  continent;  but  retreat,  turning  the  back,  even  though 
they  be  close  upon  you.  O  divine  Salamis  !  thou  shalt  lose  the  sons 
of  women,  whether  Ceres  be  scattered  or  gathered  !" 

5.  The  phrase  not  being  so  familiar  then  as  it  has  become  in  modern 
times,  the  Athenians  were  at  first  greatly  at  a  loss  to  determine  what 
were  the  wooden  walls  referred  to  by  the  oracle.  Some  imagined  that 
these  words  indicated  the  Acropolis  or  citadel  of  Athens,  which  had 
anciently  been  surrounded  with  a  wooden  palisade  ;  but  Themistocles, 
who,  it  is  probable,  had  secretly  suggested  the  response  to  the  Del- 
phian priests,  insisted  that  the  fleet  constituted  the  wooden  walls 
spoken  of  by  the  oracle,  and  urged  upon  the  Athenians  the  propriety 
of  trusting  to  their  ships  for  defence  against  the  Persians. 

6.  Ultimately  his  advice  was  followed  ;  and  while  Leonidas,  King 
of  Sparta,  with  eight  thousand  of  the  confederate  troops,  took  up  a 
strong  position  in  the  narrow  pass  of  Thermopylae,  between  Thessaly 
and  Phocis,  the  Athenian  fleet,  reinforced  by  those  of  the  other  con- 
federate states,  proceeded  to  the  strait  which  separates  the  island  of 
Eebcea  from  the  coast  of  Thessaly,  and  took  up  its  station  at  the  pro- 
montory of  Artemisium,  about  fifteen  miles  distant  from  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae. 

7.  The  march  of  Xerxes  had  hitherto  resembled  a  triumphal  pro- 
cession rather  than  a  hostile  invasion  ;  none  had  dared  to  oppose  his 
progress,  and  the  various  minor  states  through  which  he  passed,  in 
the  agony  of  their  alarm,  outvied  each  other  in  the  expressions  of 
respect  and  the  cordiality  of  welcome  with  which  they  received  the 
king  and  his  millions. 

8.  But  the  time  had  at.  length  arrived  when  he  was  to  beecue 
acquainted  with  that  indomitable  Grecian  valor  which  had  proved  so 
fatal  to  the  armies  of  his  father.  Arriving  at  the  pass  of  Thermopy 
l«,  and  learning  that  it  was  defended  by  so  small  a  force,  he  seul 

What  of  the  meeiing  at  Corinth?  2.  What  of  the  Greeks  at  this  time?  What  was  t  he 
riMinber  of  their  army  ?  3.  What  of  the  oracle  at  Delphi  ?  What  were  the  Spartans  told  / 
4.  How  were  the  Athenians  addressed?  5.  What  was  thought  of  the  phrase  wooden 
walls  ?  How  did  Themistocles  i  iterpret  it  ?  6.  What  of  thearmy  and  fleet  ? 
7  What  of  the  march  of  Xerxes  ?  The  respect  paid  to  him  ?  8.  Wl  it  massage  did  ha 
15* 


174 


PERIOD  in.— 493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  U. 


messengers  to  require  them  to  lay  down  their  arms.     "  Come    m<J 
take  thpm,"  was  the  truly  Spartan  reply  of  the  brave  Lconidas 


Leonidas  at  the  pass  of  Tlitrmopyla. 

0.  The  messengers  then  assured  them  that  if  they  would  lay  down 
their  arms,  the  Great  King  would  receive  them  as  his  allies,  and  give 
them  a  country  much  larger  and  move  fertile  than  their  own  ;  bnt  they 
answered  that  M  no  country  was  worth  acceptance,  unless  won  by  vir- 
tue ;  and  that,  as  for  their  arms,  they  should  want  them  whether  as 
the  friends  or  the  enemies  of  Xerxes."  Having  thus  spoken,  they 
unconcernedly  resumed  the  gymnastic  exercises  and  other  amuse- 
ments in  which  they  had  been  engaged  when  the  messengers  arrived. 

10.  Xerxes  waited  four  days  in  expectation  that  the  Greeks  would 
surrender;  after  which,  perceiving  that  they  remained  resolute,  he 
gave  orders  to  commence  the  attack.  But  the  narrowness  of  the  pass, 
which  in  one  place  was  only  fifteen  and  in  another  not,  more  than 
twenty-five  feet  wide,  prevented  the  Persians  from  taking  full  advan- 
tage of  their  immense  superiority  in  numbers,  and  the  undaunted 
Spartans  met  and  discomfited  with  great  slaughter  every  successive 
column  of  the  enemy  that  entered  the  defile. 

11.  Xerxes,  who,  seated  on  a  neighboring  height,  beheld  the  des- 


send  when  he  arrived  at  Thermopylae?  What  answer  did  he  receive?  9.  What  wordf 
passed  between  the  messengers  and  the  Spartans?  JO.  How  long  did  Xerxes  wait? 
What  of  the  attack?     11.  What  of  Xerxes  during  the  battle  ?     What  order  did  he  give' 


TREACHERY  OF   EPIALTES. 


17. 


perate  conflict,  repeatedly  started  in  irrepressible  emotion  from  his 
throne,  as  he  savv  the  bravest  of  his  troops  br.oken  and  destroyed,  and, 
at  length,  gave  orders  to  discontinue  the  attack.  On  the  following 
day  the  battle  was  renewed,  with  no  better  success  on  the  part  of  the 
Persians.  But  that  which  they  could  not  do  by  open  force,  they 
effected  by  stratagem;  and  the  treachery  of  a  Greek,  named  Epialtos 
proved  the  destruction  of  the  gallant  defenders  of  Thermopylae. 


Battle  of  Thermopylae. 

12.  There  was  a  rude  and  circuitous  path  across  the  mountains,  h 
few  miles  to  the  westward  of  Thermopylae,  the  existence  of  which 
was  scarcely  known  except  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  dis- 
trict, and  by  this  route  the  traitor  Epialtes  offered  to  guide  a  detach- 
ment of  the  Persians  to  the  other  extremity  of  the  pass,  to  intercept 
the  retreat  of  Leonidas,  and  attack  him  in  the  rear. 

13.  The  offer  was  eagerly  accepted,  and  twenty  thousand  chosen 
men,  commanded  by  a  distinguished  officer,  named  Hydarnes,  set  out 
on  the  expedition,  at  the  close  of  day.  After  marching  all  night,  they 
arrived  about  sunrise  near  the  summit  of  the  hill.  Here,  however, 
they  encountered  an  unexpected  obstacle  in  a  guard  of  Phocians,  to 
whom  Leonidas  had  entrusted  the  defence  of  this  unfrequented  moun- 
tain path 

14.  For  some  time  the  Persians  advanced  unperceived,  under  the 
shade  of  an  oak  forest  which  covered  the  sides  of  the  hill  ;  but  at  last 
the  Phocians,  alarmed  by  the  unwonted  rustling  among  the  leaves, 

What  of  tlie  battle  on  the  following  day  ?     The  treachery  of  Epialtes  ?      12.  "What  path 
iras  there  across  the  mountains  1     What  offer  did  Epialtes  make  ? 
13.  What  force  set  out  on  the  expedition  1    Whit  obstacle  did  they  en.-v.unter  1  14.  How 


176  PERIOD  III.— 493  B.  C.  TO  404   B.  H. 

and  the  heavy  tread  of  so  large  a  body  of  troops,  flew  to  arms  ar».i 
prepared  to  make  a  determined  resistance. 

15.  That  they  might  contend  with  less  disadvantage  against  the 
greatly  superior  force  of  the  Persians,  which  was  directed,  they 
imagined,  against  them,  the  Phocians  quitted  their  position  in  the 
pass,  and  stationed  themselves  upon  a  rising  ground,  where  they  would 
be  Jess  exposed  to  the  darts  of  their  assailants. 

16.  But  Ilydarnes,  instead  of  attacking  them  as  they  expected, 
calmly  continued  his  march,  along  the  evacuated  pass,  towards  the 
plain,  leaving  them  to  regret  at  leisure  the  unhappy  and  imprudent 
movement  by  which  they  had  afforded  him  a  free  passage. 


CHAPTER   LXIX. 

Defence  of  Tkermopyles. 

1.  The  defenders  of  Thermopyla  had  many  secret  friends  in  the 
camp  of  Xerxes.  The  recruits  whom  he  had  pressed  into  his  service 
during  the  march,  were  not  foes  to  Greece  at  heart,  and  one  of  these 
contrived  to  escape  to  the  Grecian  station  with  intimation  of  Epialtes' 
treachery,  a  few  hours  after  the  march  of  the  detachment  of  Hy- 
darnes. 

2.  Leonidas  immediately  summoned  a  council  of  war,  at  which  it 
was  agreed  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Greeks  should  immediately 
retreat  towards  the  isthmus  of  Corinth,  as  the  pass  of  Thermopylae, 
it  was  admitted  by  all,  was  no  longer  tenable. 

3.  At  the  same  time,  Leonidas,  with  his  three  hundred  Spartans, 
expressed  their  firm  resolution  never  to  abandon  their  position,  until 
they  were  driven  from  it  by  force.  Seven  hundred  Thespians,  excited 
by  the  noble  example  of  the  Spartans,  likewise  announced  their  reso- 
lution to  remain  at  their  post,  and  share  the  fortunes  of  Leonidas. 

4.  All  the  confederate  army  then  departed,  with  the  exception  of 
these  two  bands  and  a  party  of  Thebans,  amounting  to  four  hundred, 
who  were  detained  by  Leonidas,  rather  as  hostages  than  as  soldiers, 
on  account  of  the  known  disaffection  of  their  countrymen  ;  for  the 
Theban  community  had  always  been  adverse  to  the  views  of  liberty 
entertained  by  other  Grecians,  and,  as  friends  of  oligarchy,  naturally 
became  the  favorers  of  Persia,  in  the  disputes  of  Greece  with  that 
country. 

5.  Leonidas  then  exhorted  his  companions  in  arms  to  acquit  them- 
selves as  men  who  expected  and  were  prepared  for  death  :  —  "  Come, 
my  fellow-soldiers,"  said  he,  "  let  us  sit  down  to  the  last  meal  we 

jid  the  Persians  advance  ?     How  did  the  Phocians  discover  them  ?     15.  What  change  did 
they  make  in  their  position  ?     16.  What  was  the  result  ? 

LXJX.  —  1 .  Were  there  any  friends  to  Greece  in  the  camp  of  Xerxes  ?  What  did  one 
^•f  these  do?  2.  What  was  determined  upon?  3.  What  did  Leonidas  ana  the  Spartans 
oe'ermine  to  do?     The  Thespians  ?      4.   Why  were  the  Thebans  retained  ?    5.   What 


DEFENJE  OF  THERMOPYLAE  177 

siiall  eat  on  earth  ;  to-morrov  we  shall  sup  with  Pluto."  When  mid- 
night  had  arrived,  he  drew  out  his  little  band,  and  led  them  against 
the  enemy's  camp. 

(5.  The  Persians,  surprised  by  this  sudden  and  unexpected  attack, 
were  thrown  into  the  utmost  confusion,  and,  not  being  able  in  the 
darkness  to  distinguish  friends  from  foes,  they  in  many  cases  fell  upon 
each  other;  while  the  Greeks,  keeping  together  in  a  compact  body, 
and  fighting  with  all  the  wild  energy  of  men  who  had  abandoned  hope 
of  life,  made  dreadful  havoc  in  their  broken  and  wavering  ranks,  and 
penetrated  almost  to  the  tent  of  Xerxes  himself. 

7.  The  dawn  of  day,  by  revealing  to  the  Persians  the  small  number 
of  their  assailants,  obliged  Leonidas  to  give  up  the  unequal  conflict, 
and  lead  back  his  men  to  the  defile.  Thither  he  was  followed  by  the 
Persians,  and  for  a  considerable  time  the  fight  was  maintained  on  both 
sides  with  the  utmost  obstinacy. 

8.  The  Greeks  fought  with  the  vigor  which  despair  communicates 
and  multitudes  of  their  opponents  fell  beneath  their  swords;  but,  in 
the  thickest  of  the  battle  a  Persian  dart  pierced  the  heart  of  the 
heroic  Leonidas.  This,  however,  only  roused  his  followers  to  still 
greater  fury,  and  their  assailants  had  begun  to  give  way,  when  the 
twenty  thousand  men  commanded  by  Hydarnes  were  seen  advancing 
from  the  other  end  of  the  pass. 

9.  The  Spartans  and  Thespians  then  retired  to  a  rising  ground  at 
the  narrowest  point  of  the  defile,  and  took  up  a  position  behind  an  old 
wall,  being  determined  still  to  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible. 
But  the  base  Thebans  seized  the  opportunity  to  desert  to  the  enemy, 
by  whom,  however,  a  great  number  of  them  were  slain  before  the  in- 
tention of  their  movement  was  understood. 

10.  The  Persians  now  enclosed  their  devoted  opponents  on  every 
side,  and  while  some  employed  themselves  in  beating  down  the  wail 
behind  which  the  Greeks  had  planted  themselves,  the  rest  assailed 
them  with  a  ceaseless  shower  of  arrows.  Even  to  the  last  the 
Greeks  exhibited  equal  self-possession  and  courage. 

11.  Some  person  having  said  that  the  Persian  darts  were  so  nu- 
merous that  they  obscured  the  light  of  the  sun,  Dioneces,  a  Spartan, 
drew  a  ray  of  exhortation  even  from  this,  characteristically  exclaiming, 
"  How  favorable  a  circumstance  !  the  Greeks  now  fight  in  the  shade  !" 
At  last,  after  performing  prodigies  of  valor,  the  whole  band  were 
overpowered  and  slain.  As  they  lay  on  the  ground,  their  very  bodies 
were  covered  over  with  the  arrows  which  were  showered  upon  them 
by  their  innumerable  assailants. 

12.  Two  monuments  were  afterwards  erected  near  the  place  where 
'.hey  fell.  The  inscription  of  the  one  recorded  the  bravery  with  which 
a  handful  of  Greeks  had  resisted  three  millions  of  Persians  ;  while  the 

speech  did  Leonidas  make  lo  his  soldiers?  What  did  he  do  at  midnight?  6.  What  of 
the  battle?     7.  What  happened  in  the  morning? 

8.  The  death  of  Leonidas?  What  of  the  force  commanded  by  Hydarnes?  9.  Whal 
did  the  Spartans  and  Thespians  now  do?  The  Thebans?  10.  What  did  the  Persians 
now  do?  11.  What  is  told  of  Dioneces  ?  What  at  last  became  of  the  Greeks  ?  Bv  what 
were  their  bodies  covered  ?  12.  What  monuments  were  erected  to  them  ?  What  of  tUs 
inscriptions  upon  them? 

12 


17c  PERIOD  111.— 493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 

other,  which  was  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  Leonidas  and  his  three 
hundred  Spartans,  consisted  of  these  remarkable  words  :  —  "Go, 
stranger,  and  declare  to  the  Lacedaemonians  that  we  died  here  in  obe- 
dience to  their  divine  laws." 

13.  While  the  troops  of  Leonidas  were  exhibiting  so  signal  an  ex- 
ample of  heroic  patriotism  on  land,  the  Grecian  naval  force  was  con- 
tending at  sea  with  happier  fortune,  although  not  with  greater  valor, 
against  the  Persians.  The  elements,  also,  had  battled  on  the  side  of 
Greece. 

14.  The  immense  fleet  of  Xerxes,  while  at  anchor  in  the  bay  of 
Casthanaea,  on  the  coast  of  Thessaly,  had  been  attacked  by  a  violent 
tempest  of  three  days'  duration,  by  which  no  less  than  four  hundred 
vessels  of  war,  besides  an  immense  number  of  transports  and  store- 
ships,  were  totally  wrecked. 

15.  After  the  storm  had  subsided,  the  Persians,  eager  to  quit  a 
place  which  they  had  found  so  ill  calculated  to  ailbrd  them  shelter, 
sailed  into  the  strait  which  divides  the  island  of  Eubcea  from  the 
mainland,  and  anchored  in  the  road  of  Aphetae,  at  about  ten  miles' 
distance  from  the  promontory  of  Artemisium,  where  the  Grecian  fleet 
was  stationed. 


CHAPTER   LXX. 

The  Contest  at  Sea. 

1.  Notwithstanding  the  losn  caused  by  the  tempest,  the  Persian 
squadron  was  still  very  large,  ard  its  arrival  in  their  vicinity  gave 
considerable  alarm  to  the  confederated  Greeks,  who  immediately  held  a 
council  of  war,  at  which  it  was  resolved,  by  a  large  majority,  to  retire 
to  the  southward. 

2.  The  Eubceans,  anxious  to  prevent  the  adoption  of  a  course  by 
which  they  would  be  left  exposed  to  the  vengeance  of  the  Persians, 
endeavored  to  induce  Eurybiades,  a  Spartan,  who  acted  as  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  combined  fleet,  to  delay  its  departure,  at  least  till  such 
time  as  they  should  have  removed  their  families  and  most  valuable 
property  to  a  place  of  safety. 

3.  Finding  Eurybiades  inexorable,  they  next  applied  to  Themisto- 
cles,  the  commander  of  the  Athenian  division,  who  had,  in  the  coun- 
cil, opposed  the  proposal  to  retreat.  Themistocles  reminded  them 
that  ffold  was  sometimes  more  persuasive  than  words,  and  undertook 
to  prevent  the  meditated  departure  of  the  confederates,  provided  he 
were  furnished  with  thirty  talents,  —  about  thirty  thousand  dollars. 

4.  The  Eubceans  having  paid  him  the  stipulated  sum,  he  induced 


13.  Whatol  ttie  naval  force  of  Greece?  14.  What  had  happened  to  the  fleet  of  Xerxes? 
How  many  of  his  vessels  were  wrecked?     15  Where  did  the  Persian  fleet  now  anchor? 

LXX.  —  1.  What  did  the  Greeks  do  on  the  arrival  of  the  Persian  fleet?  What  was 
'esolved  upon  ?  2.  What  did  the  Eubceans  attempt  to  du  ?  3.  To  whom  did  they  apply 
next?  What  did  Themistocles  remind  them?  4.  How  did  he  induce  Eurybiades  to 
reveke  the  orders  for  Ihe  sailing  of  the  fleet?     Adimantus? 


DEFEAT  OF  THE  PERSIAN  FLEET.  179 

Eurybiades  by  a  bribe  of  five  talents,  to  revoke  the  orders  for  the 
sailing-  of  the  fleet.  All  the  officers  obeyed  the  commands  of  their  ad- 
miral except  Adimantus,  the  Corinthian,  who  persisted  in  his  inten- 
tion to  depart,  until  Themistocles  purchased  his  acquiescence  in  the 
delay  by  a  present  of  three  talents.  The  remaining  twenty-two  talents 
he  reserved  for  his  own  purposes. 

5.  The  conduct  of  Themistocles  on  this  occasion  says  much  more 
for  his  address  and  knowledge  of  mankind  than  for  his  disinterested- 
ness or  high  moral  principle  ;  and  the  mercenary,  if  not  timid,  spirit 
displayed  by  those  other  commanders,  who  could  only  be  induced  by  a 
bribe  to  face  the  Persians,  forms  a  striking  contrast  to  the  generous 
ardor  and  noble  intrepidity  exhibited  by  the  patriotic  defenders  of 
Thermopylae. 

0.  The  Persian  admiral  now  prepared  for  battle,  and  in  order  to 
intercept  the  Greeks  if  they  should  attempt  to  retreat,  he  despatched 
two  hundred  galleys,  with  orders  to  sail  round  the  eastern  side  of  the 
island  of  Euboea,  and  station  themselves  at  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  strait  of  Euripus. 

7.  Intelligence  of  this  movement  was  communicated  to  the  Greeks 
by  a  deserter  from  the  Persian  fleet,  and  another  council  was  held,  at 
which  it  was  resolved  to  attack  the  Persians,  weakened  as  they  now 
were  both  by  the  effects  of  the  recent  storm  and  the  departure  of  the 
two  hundred  ships.  Accordingly,  the  Grecian  ships  weighed  anchor 
a  little  before  sunset,  and  joined  battle  with  the  enemy. 

8.  Notwithstanding  the  advantage  possessed  by  the  Persians  in 
point  of  numbers,  the  Greeks  soon  captured  thirty  of  the  enemy's 
vessels,  and  sank  a  great  number  more.  The  approach  of  night,  and 
the  violence  of  a  storm  which  suddenly  arose,  separated  the  combat- 
ants. 

9.  The  Greeks  soon  regained  their  former  position  off  Artemisium 
but  the  Persians  were  not  so  fortunate.  Unacquainted  with  those  nar 
row  and  intricate  seas,  and  confused  by  the  darkness  and  the  tempest, 
they  hardly  knew  in  what  direction  to  steer,  and  not  a  few  of  their 
ships  were  wrecked  before  the  fleet  succeeded  in  reaching  again  its 
station  at  Aphetae. 

10.  To  the  two  hundred  galleys  which  had  sailed  for  the  southern 
end  of  the  Euripus,  the  storm  proved  still  more  disastrous.  Caught 
in  the  open  sea,  and  unable,  amidst  the  thick  darkness,  to  discover  a 
single  star  by  which  to  direct  their  course,  they  were  tossed  to  and 
fro  at  the  pleasure  of  the  furious  winds  and  waves,  until,  at  last,  bekig 
driven  upon  the  rocky  coast  of  Euboea,  the  whole  squadron  miserably 
perished. 

11.  On  the  following  day,  the  welcome  intelligence  of  this  event 
was  communicated  to  the  Grecian  commanders  by  the  crews  of  fifty- 


5.  What  may  be  said  of  the  conduct  of  Themistocles  on  this  occasion?  Of  the  be- 
havior of  the  commanders  ?  6.  What  did  the  Persian  admiral  now  do  ?  What  steps  did 
he  lake  to  intercept  the  Greeks?  7.  How  did  the  Greeks  learn  of  this  movement?  Wrhar, 
did  they  resolve  to  do?  8.  What  was  the  result  of  the  battle?  What  of  the  storm  ?  9. 
Its  effect  upon  the  Grecian  fleet?  Upon  the  Persian  fleet?  10.  What  happened  to  the 
galleys  sent  to  intercept  the  Greeks? 

II.  Kow  was  the  news  of  this  event  communicated  to  the  Greeks?    What  o    th« 


.80  PERIOD  111.-493  B.  C.  TO  404  U.  C. 

three  new  Athenian  ships,  which  arrived  to  reinforce  the  fleet 
Finco  iraged  by  this  favorable  news,  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day 
the  Greeks  renewed  their  attack  upon  the  Persian  fleet,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  totally  destroying  a  detachment  of  it,  called  the  Cicilian 
squadron.  Ashamed  of  having  been  completely  worsted  by  an  ene- 
my so  far  inferior  in  numbers,  the  Persian  commanders  resolved  on 
making  a  vigorous  effort  to  retrieve  their  reputation.  As  soon  as  day 
returned,  they  gave  orders  to  prepare  for  a  general  engagement. 

12.  About  noon  they  approached  the  station  of  the  confederates, 
and  a  very  severe  conflict  ensued,  which  terminated  in  the  triumph  of 
the  Greeks.  But  their  victory  was  dearly  bought  by  the  loss  of  five 
galleys,  and  the  damage  of  many  of  their  vessels,  especially  those  of 
the  Athenian  division. 

13.  This  circumstance,  together  with  the  discouraging  announce- 
ment which  they  received  immediately  afterwards  of  the  destruction 
of  Leonidas  and  his  Spartans  at  Thermopylae,  determined  the  Grecian 
commanders  to  retire  to  the  southward,  that  they  might  be  at  hand  to 
give  all  the  assistance  in  their  power  to  the  inhabitants  both  of  Attica 
and  the  Peloponnesian  states,  which,  being  left  exposed  by  the  result 
of  the  battle  of  Thermopylae,  might  expect  immediate  invasion  by  the 
Persians. 

14.  They,  therefore,  instantly  set  sail,  and  proceeded  to  the  Sa- 
ronic  gulf,  where  they  anchored  in  the  strait  between  the  island  of 
Salamis  and  the  coast  of  Attica. 


CHAPTER   LXXI. 

A  large  Portion  of  Greece  devastated  by  the  Persians. 

1.  The  land  forces  of  Xerxes  now  advanced  through  Phocis  and 
Bceotia  into  Attica,  while  his  rleet  made  a  corresponding  movement  to 
the  southward,  following  that  of  the  Greeks  into  the  Saronic  gulf. 

2.  The  Persian  anny  met  with  little  or  no  opposition  in  its  march, 
as  the  Peloponnesians  had  retired  within  the  isthmus  of  Corinth,  in 
despair  of  being  able  to  offer  effective  resistance  in  the  open  country  ; 
and  the  Athenians,  deserted  by  their  allies,  and  having  the  principal 
part  of  their  armed  force  on  board  the  fleet,  made  no  attempt  to  defend 
their  territory. 

3.  An  interesting  account  is  given  of  the  preservation  of  the  sacred 
fane  of  Apollo  at  Delphi  in  this  time  of  universal  panic  and  over- 
throw. The  Delphians,  on  hearing  that  the  Persians  had  succeeded 
in  forcing  the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  were  filled  with  alarm,  and  con 

renewed  attack  upon  the  Persians?  What  did  the  Persians  resolve  upon  ?  12.  The  bat- 
tle? What  was  the  loss  of  the  Greeks?  13.  What  determined  the  Greeks  to  retire  to 
the  south?    What  was  their  object  ?     14.  Where  did  they  anchor? 

LXXI.  — 1  What  of  the  land  forces  of  Xerxes?  His  (leet?  2.  What  of  the  march 
of  the  Persian  army  ?  Why  was  r.o  resistance  offered  by  the  Peloponnesians  ?  The  Alhe- 
iraiis?    3.  What  of  the  fane  of  Apollo  1    What  did  the  Delphians  do,  on  hearing  of  tha 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  WAR.  IS  J 

suited  the  oracle  what  was  to  be  done  for  the  pre  ection  of  the  temple 
and  the  val  lable  treasures  which  it  contained. 

4.  The  answer  was,  that  "  the  arms  of  Apollo  were  sufficient  foi 
the  defence  of  his  shrine."  The  Delphians  then  transported  their 
wives  and  children  across  the  gulf  of  Corinth  into  Achaia,  and,  aban- 
doning their  city,  concealed  themselves  in  the  deep  caverns  and  among 
the  rocky  summits  of  Mount  Parnassus. 

5.  The  only  road  by  which  Delphi  could  be  approached  was  steep 
and  difficult,  winding  about  among  narrow  defiles  and  steep  mountain 
crags ;  and  when  the  Persian  detachment  advanced  along  it,  a  thun- 
derstorm, which  happened  to  come  on,  awoke  their  superstitious  fears, 
while  it  encouraged  the  Delphians,  who  imagined  that  Apollo  was 
fulfilling  his  promise  of  interfering  to  protect  his  temple. 

6.  Two  immense  fragments  of  rock,  which  were,  either  by  the 
agency  of  the  lightning  or  the  secret  eftbrts  of  the  Delphians,  rolled 
down  from  the  heights  of  Parnassus  upon  the  heads  of  the  Persians, 
completed  their  dismay,  and  they  precipitately  betook  themselves  to 
flight.  The  Delphians,  emerging  from  their  hiding-places,  pursued 
them  with  great  slaughter. 

7.  To  apologize  for  so  ignominious  a  defeat,  the  Persian  detach- 
ment, on  their  return  to  the  main  body  of  the  army,  told  many  mar- 
vellous tales  about  the  unearthly  voices  they  had  heard,  and  fearful 
shapes  they  had  seen,  at  Delphi ;  and  as  the  priests  of  the  shrine  were 
interested  in  giving  currency  and  credit  to  reports  of  a  similar  nature, 
it  soon  came  to  be  universally  believed  that  the  discomfiture  of  the 
sacrilegious  assailants  of  the  temple  had  been  accomplished  by  super- 
natural means. 

8.  After  the  arrival  of  the  Grecian  fleet  at  Salamis,  Themistocles, 
perceiving  that  there,  was  no  longer  any  hope  of  preserving  Attica, 
persuaded  the  Athenians  to  betake  themselves  for  refuge  to  their 
ships,  according  to  the  interpretation  he  had  formerly  given  of  the 
oracle  of  Apollo,  which  promised  them  safety  behind  their  wooden 
walls. 

9.  They  therefore  conveyed  their  women,  children,  and  old  men,  to 
the  islands  of  Salamis  and  ^gina,  and  the  seaport  town  of  Trcezene 
in  Argolis,  and  abandoned  their  country  and  city  to  the  rage  of  the 
invaders.  Before  departing,  however,  at  the  instigation  of  Themis- 
tocles, they  passed  a  decree  recalling  all  their  exiles  for  the  common 
defence,  by  which  means  they  obtained,  at  this  dangerous  crisis,  the 
valuable  assistance  of  Aristides. 

10.  He  was  then  residing  in  the  island  of  iEgina,  and  no  sooner 
heard  of  the  decree,  than  he  repaired  to  the  general  rendezvous  at  Sa- 
lamis, forgetful  of  the  injustice  with  which  he  had  been  treated,  and 
anxious  only  for  the  welfare  of  his  countrymen. 


battle  of  Thermopylae?  4.  What  answer  did  the  oracle  make  ?  What  did  the  Delphians 
do  with  their  wives  and  children  ?  5.  What  of  the  road  to  Delphi  ?  The  thunderstorm  ? 
6.  Why  did  the  Persians  betake  themselves  to  flight?  7.  What  reports  were  circulatec 
ny  the  Persians  and  priests  of  Delphi?  8.  What  did  Themistocles  now  persi  ade  the 
Athenians  to  do?  9.  What  did  they  do?  Wrhat  decree  did  they  pass  in  regard  to  theii 
exiles  ? 

10    What  of  Aristides,   when  he  heard  of  this  decree?     11.  What  was  the  fate  o' 

16 


1S2 


PEKIOL  in.  — 493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 


II.  rlhe  army  of  Xerxes  soon  overran  and  devastated  Attica. 
Before  them  fell  its  proud  capital,  and  their  swords  destroyed  all  the 
citizens  that  were  left  in  it  —  a  few  who  had  refused  to  quit  theit 
•tountry,  and  who  made  a  vain  attempt  to  defend  the  citadel. 


The  burning  oj  Athens. 

12.  At  the  same  time,  the  Persian  fleet  took  up  its  station  at  Cha- 
erum,  an  Athenian  sea-port,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  bay  in  which 
the  Grecian  navy  lay.  The  confederates  now  deliberated  whether 
they  ought  to  risk  another  engagement  with  the  Persians,  or  to  retire 
further  up  the  gulf  to  aid  in  the  defence  of  the  isthmus  of  Corinth, 
across  which  the  Peloponnesians  had  constructed  a  line  of  fortifications 
t  j  arrest  the  progress  of  the  invaders. 

13.  In  vain  Themistocles  urged  on  the  council  the  propriety  of 
remaining  and  giving  battle  to  the  Persians  ;  the  great  majority  of  the 
commanders  were  desirous  to  depart,  and  it  was  finally  resolved  in 
council  to  set  sail  immediately.  The  council  then  broke  up.  Thernis- 
tocles,  perceiving  that  if  the  resolution  just  adopted  were  carried  into 
effect,  all  would  be  lost,  persuaded  Eurybiades  to  call  a  second  council, 
at  which  he  employed  all  his  eloquence  to  induce  the  commanders  to 
revoke  their  pusillanimous  decision. 

14.  In  the  course  of  the  discussion,  having  said  something  which 
gave  offence  to  Eurybiades,  the  latter  lifted  up  his  stick  as  if  to  strike 
him ;  but  Themistocles,  only  intent  on  persuading  the  confederates  to 
remain,  took  no  other  notice  of  the  menacing  gesture  of  the  Spartan 
than  to  say  to  him  calmly,  "  Strike,  but  hear  me."  Eurybiades, 
ashamed  of  his  violence,  requested  him  to  proceed  with  his  speech, 
and  offered  him  no  further  interruption. 

15.  Themistocles  then  insisted  on  the  disadvantages  to  which  they 


Attica?  12.  Where  was  the  Persian  fleet  at  the  same  time?  W.iat  alternative  did  tht 
confederates  deliberate  upon  ?  13.  What  did  Themistocles  urge  on  the  council?  What 
was  finally  resolved  upoi:  ?  What  did  Themistocles  then  do  ?  14.  What  passed  between 
Themi3«ocles  and  Eur  v  bind  :;st 


BATTLE   OF  SALAMIS  183 

n-oiild  expose  themselves  by  quitting  their  present  station,  as  tney 
would  thereby  exchange  a  narrow  channel,  in  which  the  whole  of  the 
Persian  fleet  could  not  assail  them  at  once,  for  the  open  seas,  where 
they  might  speedily  be  overpowered  by  the  superior  force  of  the 
enemy.  He  also  dwelt  upon  the  cruelty  of  abandoning  to  their  fate 
t  he  Athenian  women  and  children  collected  in  the  islands  of  Salamis 
and  iEgina. 

16.  He  had  hardly  concluded,  when  Adirnantns,  the  Corinthian 
.•ommander,  insultingly  asked,  "  Whether  they  were  to  be  guided  by 

he  wishes  of  men  who  had  no  longer  a  city  to  defend?"  alluding  to 
the  destruction  of  Athens  by  the  Persians.  Theinistocles  indignantly 
leplied,  that  "  the  Athenians  had,  indeed,  sacrificed  their  private  pos- 
sessions for  the  sake  of  preserving  their  own  independence  and  the 
common  liberties  of  Greece,  but  that  they  had  still  a  city  in  their  tvvc 
hundred  ships." 

17.  He  added,  that  "  if  deserted  by  the  confederates,  they  would 
embark  their  wives  and  children,  and  seek  a  new  home  on  the  coas 
of  Italy,  where  ancient  oracles  had  foretold  that  the  Athenians  shoulc 
one  day  found  a  flourishing  state."  If  the  allies  provoked  them  to 
adopt  this  course,  they  would  speedily  have  cause  to  regret  that  they 
had  driven  away  the  only  fleet  which  was  capable  of  protecting  their 
coasts. 

18.  These  words  alarmed  the  council  lest  the  Athenians  should 
actually  secede  from  the  confederacy,  and  it  was  resolved  to  remain 
at  Salamis,  and  give  battle  to  the  enemy.  But,  notwithstanding  this 
determination,  several  of  the  Peloponnesian  commanders  soon  began 
to  exhibit  a  desire  to  depart,  and  Themistocles  received  information 
that  most  of  them  intended  to  set  sail  during  the  night. 

19.  To  defeat  their  purpose,  he  secretly  put  in  force  one  of  those 
stratagems,  of  dubious  propriety,  such  as  an  Aristides  never  would 
have  resorted  to.  He  despatched  a  messenger  to  Xerxes,  to  inform 
him  that  the  Grecian  fleet  was  preparing  to  make  its  escape,  and  to 
say  that,  if  he  wished  to  crush  his  enemies  at  once,  he  should  cause  his 
ships  to  guard  both  ends  of  the  strait  in  which  they  were  stationed. 

20.  Xerxes,  believing  Themistocles  to  be  secretly  in  his  interest, 
followed  his  advice,  and  the  Greeks,  finding  themselves  thus  enclosed, 
made  a  virtue  of  necessity,  and  prepared  for  battle. 


CHAPTER   LXXII. 

Battle  of  Salamis. 

1.  The  morning  of  the  twentieth  of  October,  480  B.  C.  —  a  day 
destined  to  be  rendered  forever  memorable  by  the  glorious  battle  of 

15.  What  did  Themistocles  then  say?  What  did  he  say  of  the  women  and  children  in 
the  islands  of  Salamis  and  jEsina?  16.  What  question  did  Adimantus  ask?  How  did 
Themistocles  reply?  17.  What  did  he  add?  18.  What  was  at  last  resolved  upon? 
What  information,  however,  did  Themistocles  receive?  19.  What  measure  did  he  take  to 
defeat  their  purpose  ?    20.  What  was  the  result  ? 


S4 


PERIOD  III.— 493  B.  C.  TO  404   R  U. 


salamis —  was  ushered  in  by  the  Greeks  with  sacred  hymns  an*, 
pagans,  while,  with  their  voices,  the  spirit-stirring  sounds  of  the  shrill 
war-trumpet  ever  and  anon  mingled. 


Battle  of  Salamis. 

2.  As,  under  the  directions  of  their  leaders,  they  formed  themselves 
into  line  of  battle,  they  encouraged  each  other  by  mutual  exhortations 
to  fight  bravely  in  defence  of  their  wives  and  children,  their  homes, 
their  liberties,  and  the  temples  of  their  gods.  Every  heart  responded 
to  such  appeals,  nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  men  engaged  in  so 
holy  a  cause  should  have  performed  prodigies  of  heroism. 

3.  The  Persians,  although  animated  by  no  such  elevated  sentiments, 
were  not  destitute  of  strong  motives  for  active  and  intrepid  exertion. 
They  were  aware  that  they  were  about  to  fight  under  the  immediate 
eye  of  their  monarch ;  for  Xerxes  had  drawn  up  his  army  along  the 
opposite  shore  of  Attica,  and  had  seated  himself  upon  a  magnificent 
throne  on  the  summit  of  a  neighboring  mountain,  where,  surrounded 
oy  his  guards,  and  by  a  number  of  secretaries,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
record  the  manner  in  which  his  subjects  acquitted  themselves,  he 
watched  the  onset  of  the  combatants  and  the  progress  of  the  battle. 

4.  The  shores  of  Attica,  to  a  considerable  extent,  were  covered  with 
troops,  and  by  day-break  the  whole  Persian  army  was  in  motion  ;  for 
the  soldiers  were  moved  by  curiosity  to  take  their  stand  on  the  neigh- 
boring heights.  The  most  commodious  eminences  were  chosen  by 
them,  and  every  hill  and  elevation  that  commanded  a  view  of  the 
water,  was  eagerly  sought  out  by  those  who  were  anxious  to  view  the 
approaching  conflict. 

5.  At  this  moment  of  suspense  and  expectation,  a  shocking  scene 
look  place  in  the  galley  of  Themistocles.     He  was  offering  sacrifices 

LXXII.  —  1.  What  of  the  morning  of  the  twentieth  of  October?  2.  How  did  the 
Greeks  encourage  each  other?  3.  What  motives  had  the  Persians  for  exertion?  Where 
had  Xerxae  seated  himself?  4.  Where  did  the  Persian  army  station  themselves?  5.  What 
wene  qow  took  place  in  the  galley  of  Themistocles?    What  was  ordered  bv  t'ie  sooth 


BATTLE   OF  SAT-AMIS 


JSfi 


an  deck,  when  three  beautiful  youths,  who  had  been  taken  captive, 
were  brought  to  him.  They  were  said  to  be  the  nephews  of  the  Per- 
sian monarch.  The  soothsayer  who  attended  on  the  sacrifice,  took 
Themistocles  by  the  hand,  ordering-  that  the  three  youth*  should  be 
sacrificed  to  Bacchus  Omestis  ;  for  by  this  means  the  Greeks  might  be 
assured,  not  only  of  safety,  but  of  victory. 

(5.  Themistocles  was  astonished  at  the  strangeness  and  cruelty  of 
the  order;  for  though  in  some  of  the  Grecian  islands  human  sacri- 
fices were  ordered  to  Bacchus,  they  had  not  been  allowed  among  the 
Athenians.  But  the  people,  calling  upon  the  god,  led  the  unfortunate 
captives  to  the  altar,  insisting  upon  their  being  offered  up  as  the  sooth- 
sayer had  directed. 


I)|  HIM*"** 

Sacrifice  of  youths  before  the  battle  of  Sa/amis. 


7.  On  a  favoring  breeze  springing  up,  the  signal  of  attack  was 
given,  and  the  Grecian  fleet,  consisting  of  only  three  hundred  and 
eighty  ships,  advanced  to  meet  that  of  the  Persians,  which  numbered 
one  thousand  three  hundred  vessels  of  war. 

8     The   Persian  line  was  soon  broken  by  the  skilful    assault  of 


gayer?     G.   Why  was  Themistocles  astonished?     Upon  what  did  the  people  insist?     7 
What  was  the  number  of  the  Grecian  fleet?    Of  the  Persian?    8.  What  was  the  resul"  of 


18' 


1S6  PERIOD   III.  —  493  B.  C.  TU  404  B.  o. 

Athenians  under  Themistoeles,  and,  after  a  long  and  severe  conflict, 
in  the  course  of  which  many  individual  examples  of  extraordinary  ^alor 
and  dexterity  were  exhibited,  the  Greeks  were  completely  victorious. 
So  great  was  the  loss  of  lives  on  the  part  of  their  opponents,  that,  for 
a  consi  icrable  distance  around,  the  sea  itself  was  scarcely  visible  fo 
the  number  of  dead  bodies. 

9.  A  great  number  of  the  Persian  vessels  were  taken  or  destroyed., 
and  the  remainder,  struck  with  panic,  were  dispersed  in  various  direc- 
tions. The  Greeks  lost  forty  ships,  but  comparatively  few  men, 
many  of  those  whose  vessels  were  sunk  having  saved  themselves  by 
swimming  to  the  shore. 

10.  A  select  body  of  Persian  infantry  had  been  stationed  on  the 
little  island  of  Psyttalea,  between  Salamis  and  the  mainland,  for  the 
purpose  of  assisting  the  Persians  and  destroying  the  Greeks  who 
might  seek  a  refuge  there  during  the  battle. 

11.  Thither,  however,  the  watchful  Aristides  conducted  a  band  of 
Athenian  soldiers,  who  attacked  and  put  to  the  sword  the  whole  of 
the  Persian  detachment,  within  view  of  Xerxes  himself,  who,  behold- 
ing his  fleet  scattered  and  destroyed,  and  his  chosen  troops  cut  to 
pieces  by  the  victorious  Greeks,  sprung  in  anguish  from  his  throne, 
rent  his  garments  in  a  paroxysm  of  despair,  and  hastily  gave  orders 
that  his  army  should  be  withdrawn  from  the  coast. 

12.  The  scattered  remnants  of  the  Persian  fleet  made  the  best  of 
their  way,  some  to  the  ports  of  Asia  Minor,  and  others  to  the  Helle- 
spont, while  Xerxes  and  the  land  forces  retreated  with  precipitation 
into  Thessaly. 

13.  The  pride  of  this  Asiatic  despot  was  effectually  humbled  ;  and 
such  was  his  dread  of  the  Greeks,  that,  deeming  himself  in  danger  as 
long  as  he  remained  in  Europe,  even  though  surrounded  with  millions 
of  armed  followers,  he  resolved  on  returning  immediately  to  Asia,  and 
leaving  his  general,  Mardonius,  with  a  force  of  three  hundred  thousand 
chosen  men,  to  carry  on  the  war  against  Greece. 

14.  Xerxes  was  confirmed  in  this  determination  by  a  message 
which  he  received  from  his  pretended  friend,  Themistoeles,  informing 
him  that  it  had  been  proposed  in  the  Grecian  council  to  sail  immedi- 
ately to  the  Hellespont,  and  break  down  the  bridge  of  boats  to  pre- 
vent his  return  into  Asia,  but  that  Themistoeles  had  dissuaded  the 
confederates  from  carrying  the  design  into  execution. 

15.  It  is  supposed  that  the  artful  Athenian  gave  Xerxes  this  inti- 
mation with  the  double  purpose  of  quickening  the  retreat  of  a  still 
dangerous  enemy,  and  of  securing  for  himself  the  protection  of  the 
Persian  monarch,  should  any  fluctuation  of  fortune  cause  him  to  need 
it.  And  the  time  did  come  when  such  a  refuge  became  necessary  to 
the  victor  of  Salamis. 


the  battle?  What  of  the  loss  of  the  Persians?  9.  How  many  vessels  did  the  Persians 
lose?  The  Greeks?  10.  For  what  purpose  was  a  body  of  Persian  infantry  stationed  on 
the  island  of  Psyttalea? 

1 1.  What  did  Aristides  do?  What  of  Xerxes  when  he  beheld  this  scene?  12.  What 
now  became  of  the  Persian  fleet  ?  The  land  forces  ?  13.  What  did  Xerxes  resolve  upon  J 
14.  What  message  did  he  receive  from  Themistoeles?  15.  Why  is  it  supposed  thai 
rhemistoclis  sent  this  message  ? 


REPREAT  OF  THE  PERSIANS  1S7 

CHAPTER  LXXIII. 

Retreat  of  the  Persians. 

1.  The  retreat  of  Xerxes  was  one  of  the  most  calamitous  on  record ; 
the  sufferings  of  his  soldiers  equalling-,  if  they  did  not  even  surpass, 
the  miseries  endured  by  the  French  army,  in  modern  times,  in  the 
memorable  retreat  from  Moscow.  In  the  confusion  and  terrors  inci- 
dent to  a  flight,  no  arrangements  had  been  made  for  the  supply  of  the 
immense  host  of  Xerxes  with  provisions,  and  famine  soo-n  began  to 
create  dreadful  havoc  and  distress. 

2.  To  such  extremities  were  the  soldiers  reduced,  that  they  ate  the 
leaves  and  bark  of  trees,  and  the  very  grass  of  the  fields,  as  they 
passed  along  to  their  far-off'  home.  The  horrors  of  pestilence  were 
speedily  added  to  those  of  famine,  and  the  line  of  march  through 
Thessaly,  Macedonia,  and  Thrace,  was  everywhere  marked  by  heaps 
of  dead  bodies. 

3.  Sixty  thousand  of  the  select  troops,  which  had  been  placed 
under  the  command  of  Mardonius,  accompanied  Xerxes,  as  his  body- 
guard, to  the  Hellespont.  Excepting  these,  who,  in  respect  of  their 
office  as  guardians  of  the  royal  person,  were  partially  supplied  with 
provisions,  while  the  common  soldiers  were  neglected,  almost  the 
whole  of  the  multitude  which  followed  the  retiring  steps  of  their  sove- 
reign from  the  plains  of  Thessaly,  perished  miserably  before  his  arri- 
val, after  a  forty-five  days'  march,  at  the  shores  of  the  Hellespont. 

4.  The  magnificent  bridge  of  boats,  by  which  Xerxes  had  formerly 
passed  over  that  strait,  had  been  destroyed  by  a  tempest,  and  the  hum- 
bled monarch  was  happy  to  obtain  a  Phoenician  ship  of  war,  or,  as 
some  say,  a  fishing-boat,  to  transport  him  to  the  Asiatic  side.  Thus 
terminated,  in  disaster  and  disgrace,  the  mightiest  expedition  ever 
undertaken  by  man,  affording  a  fearful  example  of  the  evils  produced 
by  insensate  vanity  and  wild  ambition. 

5.  If  the  heart  of  Xerxes  was  not  wholly  hardened  by  the  unlimited 
gratification  of  his  passions,  deep,  indeed,  must  have  been  his  remorse, 
when  he  reflected  that,  in  the  prosecution  of  his  unjustifiable  schemes 
of  conquest,  he  had  caused  the  destruction  of  the  greater  part  of  that 
innumerable  crowd  of  human  beings  whom  he  had  lately  led  into 
Greece,  and  over  the  fleeting  nature  of  whose  natural  existence  he  had 
ihen  lamented  so  pathetically  ! 

6.  It  was  probably  as  much  for  the  purpose  of  escaping  from  such 
self-accusing  and  painful  thoughts,  as  for  the  gratification  of  his 
depraved  appetites,  that,  on  his  return  to  Sardis,  he  plunged  into  the 
wildest  excesses  of  sensuality,  and  gave  the  rein  to  all  the  baser  pro- 
pensities of  his  nature. 


LXXIII.  —  1.  What  of  the  retreat  of  Xerxes?  2.  To  what  was  his  army  reduced  by 
famine?  By  pestilence?  3.  What  was  the  body-guard  of  Xerxes  ?  What  was  the  fate 
of  his  army  ?  4.  What  had  become  of  the  bridge  of  boats  ?  How  was  Xerxes  transported 
wo  Asia?    5.  His  remorse?    Reflections?    6.  What  of  him  after  his  return  to  Sardis? 


188  PERIOD  III. -493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  U. 

CHAPTER    LXXIV. 

Dishonesty  of  Themistocles. 

1.  After  the  retreat  of  the  Persians,  the  Grecian  navy  went  into 
port  for  the  winter,  with  the  exception  of  the  Athenian  squadron..  At 
the  head  of  this,  Themistocles  sailed  to  the  Cyclades,  the  name  given 
to  a  cluster  of  islands  in  the  .^Egean  Sea,  of  which  Paros  and  Naxos 
are  the  largest.  Under  pretence  of  punishing  their  inhabitants  for 
taking  part  with  the  Persians,  he  extorted  from  them  a  heavy  contri- 
bution, which  he  is  accused  of  having  afterwards  applied  to  his  own 
private  uses,  instead  of  paying  it  into  the  public  treasury. 

2.  About  the  same  time  he  gave  another  notable  proof  of  his  want 
of  principle.  He  told  his  countrymen  that  he  had  something  to  pro- 
pose, which  would  be  very  beneficial  to  them,  but  that  it  could  not 
with  propriety  be  stated  to  the  popular  assembly.  The  Athenians 
directed  hirn  to  communicate  his  design  to  Aristides,  and  promised 
that,  if  he  approved  of  it,  they  should  sanction  its  being  carried  into 
execution. 

3.  Themistocles  having,  accordingly,  informed  him  that  his  plan 
was  to  burn  the  confederate  fleet  while  wintering  in  the  harbor  of 
Pagasae,  by  which  means  Athens  would  be  rendered  the  only  mari- 
time power  in  Greece,  Aristides  reported  to  the  people,  that  "  nothing 
could  be  more  advantageous,  and  at  the  same  time  more  unjust,  than 
the  project  of  Themistocles."  The  Athenians,  on  hearing  this,  re- 
jected the  proposal,  without  even  inquiring  into  its  nature,  so  great 
was  their  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  honesty  of  Aristides. 

4.  The  Athenians  were  now  at  liberty  to  return  to  their  ruined  city, 
and  most  of  them  accordingly  did  so  ;  but,  being  afraid  that  Mardonius 
might  again  compel  them  to  abandon  it,  a  considerable  number  allowed 
their  wives  and  children  still  to  remain  on  the  islands  of  Salamis  and 
iEgina. 

5.  The  winter  was  spent  by  the  confederated  Greeks  in  offering 
sacrifices  to  the  gods  in  gratitude  for  their  deliverance  from  the  Per- 
sians, in  dividing  the  spoils,  and  in  awarding  prizes  to  those  who  had 
chiefly  distinguished  themselves  in  the  war.  At  the  distribution  of 
these  prizes,  an  incident  occurred,  which  at  once  afforded  an  honorable 
testimony  to  the  military  talents  of  Themistocles,  and  a  curious  evi- 
dence of  the  vanity  of  his  military  colleagues. 

6.  When  the  commanders  of  the  allied  fleets  were  requested  to 
give  in  a  list  of  the  names  of  those  who  had  exhibited  the  greatest 
valor  and  skill  at  the  battle  of  Salamis,  each  placed  his  own  name  at 

LXXIV.  —  1.  What  did  the  Grecian  navy  now  do?  The  Athenian  squadron  ?  Of  what 
rt-as  Themistocles  accused  at  this  time  ?  2.  What  other  proof  did  he  give  of  his  want  of 
principle?    What  did  the  Athenians  direct  him  to  do?     3.  What  was  Aristides'  answer  .' 

4.  What  did  the  Athenians  now  do?     Where  did  their  wives  and   children   remain.! 

5.  How  did  the  confederate  Greeks  spend  \he  winter?     6.  What  incident  occurred  at  th« 
iistribution  of  the  prizes 


SECOND  ATTACK   UPON  ATHENS  189 

the  top  of  the  list,  while  almost  all  of  them  concurred  in  putting  tha* 
of  Themistocles  second. 

7.  But,  whatever  might  be  the  interested  decision  of  the  navaj 
commanders,  the  general  voice  of  the  states  rightly  pronounced  The- 
mistocles the  hero  of  Salamis,  and  the  Lacedaemonians,  in  particular, 
vied  with  his  own  countrymen  in  loading  him  with  honors.  He  was 
invited  to  visit  Sparta,  and  when  he  arrived  there,  was  pompously 
crowned  with  an  olive  wreath,  as  the  wisest  and  ablest  of  the  Greeks. 

8.  Their  own  general,  Eurybiades,  at  the  same  time  received  from 
the  Spartans  a  similar  mark  of  distinction,  as  the  most  valorous. 
They  also  presented  to  Themistocles  a  magnificent  chariot,  and  sent 
three  hundred  of  their  noblest  youths,  as  a  guard  of  honor,  to  attend 
him  to  the  frontier,  on  his  way  home. 

9.  And  at  the  next  celebration  of  the  Olympic  Festival,  when  he 
appeared  in  public,  such  was  the  interest  which  his  presence  excited, 
that  the  combatants  in  the  arena  were  neglected,  and  all  eyes  were 
turned  upon  the  man  who  had  saved  Greece. 

10.  Meanwhile,  Mardonius,  the  Persian  general,  was  not  idle. 
Judging  the  Athenians  to  be  the  most  dangerous  foes  with  whom  he 
had  to  contend,  he  endeavored,  by  many  liberal  and  tempting  proffers, 
to  induce  them  to  withdraw  from  the  confederacy. 

11.  He  caused  Alexander,  King  of  Macedon,  to  visit  Athens,  and 
to  promise,  in  the  name  of  the  Persian  monarch,  that  the  city  should 
be  rebuilt,  the  citizens  enriched,  and  the  sovereignty  of  all  Greece 
conferred  upon  them,  if  they  would  take  no  further  part  in  the  war. 

12.  The  Lacedaemonians,  who  had  received  intimation  of  what  was 
going  forward,  sent  ambassadors  at  the  same  time  to  remind  the  Athe- 
nians of  their  duty  to  Greece,  and  to  offer  them  whatever  pecuniary 
assistance  they  might  require,  and  an  asylum  for  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren in  Sparta,  if  they  would  adhere  to  the  league.  Acting  on  the 
counsels  of  Aristides,  the  Athenians  answered  both  the  Persians  and 
the  Lacedaemonians  in  the  noblest  and  most  patriotic  manner. 

13.  They  told  the  emissaries  of  the  Asiatic  monarch,  that  the  peo- 
ple of  Athens  could  hearken  to  no  terms  of  peace  with  those  by  whorr 
their  country  had  been  laid  waste  and  their  temples  profaned  ;  and 
they  rebuked  with  dignity  the  Spartans  for  believing  them  capable  of 
deserting  their  allies,  or  of  being  induced  to  perform  their  duty  bv 
pecuniary  considerations. 

14.  Finding  his  offers  thus  rejected,  Mardonius  advanced  immedi- 
ately against  Athens.  To  the  disgrace  of  the  confederates,  they 
again  left  the  Athenians  unassisted ;  even  the  Lacedaemonians,  who 
had  so  lately  exhorted  their  ally  to  stand  by  the  general  cause,  did 
not  send  a  single  man  to  aid  in  the  defence  of  Attica,  but,  following 
•he  dictates  of  their  selfish  and  cold-hearted  policy,  contented  them 


7.  How  was  Themistocles  generally  regarded  ?  What  presents  were  made  to  him  ? 
What  happened  to  him  at  Sparta?  8.  What  of  Eurybiades?  9.  What  honor  was  paid 
to  Themistocles  in  the  Olympic  Festival  ?  10.  What  of  Mardonius  in  the  mean  time  1 
11.  Whal  message  did  he  send  to  the  Athenians  by  Alexander?  12.  What  message  did 
the  Lacedemonians  send  at  the  same  time?  13.  How  did  the  Athenians  answer  both 
these  messages? 

14.  What  did  Mardonius  immediately  do?     What  of  the  confederates?    The  Laceda 


190  PERIOD   III. -193  B.  C.  TO  404   B.  C. 

selves  with  constructing  additional  fortifications  at  the  isthmus  of 
Corinth,  for  the  protection  of  the  Peloponnesus. 

15.  The  Athenians  were  therefore  obliged  a  second  time  to  abandon 
their  city.  They  reconveyed  to  Salamis  such  of  their  families  as  had 
returned  to  Athens,  and,  embarking  on  board  their  vessels,  prepared 
to  defend  themselves  to  the  last  extremity.  The  enthusiastic  patriot 
ism  displayed  by  them  at  this  critical  moment  contrasts  very  favorably 
with  the  narrow  and  unfriendly  conduct  of  the  Spartans. 

16.  After  Mardonius  had  arrived  in  Attica,  he  sent  another  messen- 
ger to  the  Athenians,  renewing  his  former  magnificent  offers,  on  con- 
dition of  their  seceding  from  the  confederacy  ;  but  even  the  extremity 
of  their  distress,  and  the  base  desertion  of  them  by  their  allies,  failed 
to  induce  the  countrymen  of  Aristides  to  abandon  the  cause  of  Grecian 
independence. 

17.  So  strongly,  indeed,  did  their  spirit  revolt  against  any  conces- 
sion to  Persia,  that  Lycidas,  a  member  of  the  council  of  five  hundred, 
was  stoned  to  death  by  the  people  for  merely  proposing  that  the  mes- 
sage of  Mardonius  should  be  taken  into  consideration  ;  and  his  wife 
and  children  perished  by  the  hands  of  a  crowd  of  infuriated  women  ; 
a  cruel  piece  of  conduct,  certainly,  however  honorable  the  feelings 
were  in  which  it  originated. 


CHAPTER  LXXV. 

Battle  of  Platcea.  —  End  of  the  War. 

1.  The  troops  of  Mardonius  now  ravaged  Attica,  and  destroyed 
Athens  a  second  time,  after  which  they  retired  again  to  Bceotia,  fear- 
ing to  be  surprised  by  the  Greeks  in  the  mountainous  region  of  Attica, 
which  was  unfavorable  for  the  manoeuvring  of  so  large  an  army,  and 
especially  for  the  movements  of  cavalry. 

2.  While  these  things  were  in  progress,  a  deputation,  headed  by 
Aristides,  had  proceeded  to  Sparta,  to  remonstrate  with  the  Laceda?- 
monians,  and  to  urge  them  to  send  immediate  assistance  to  the  Athe- 
nians. The  deputies  found  the  Spartans  unconcernedly  celebrating 
one  of  their  public  festivals,  and  were  obliged  to  wait  ten  days  before 
they  could  obtain  any  answer  to  their  representations. 

3.  At  last,  however,  a  body  of  five  thousand  Spartans  and  thirty- 
five  thousand  light  armed  Helots,  was  despatched  to  the  succor  of 
Athens.  In  crossing  the  Corinthian  isthmus,  they  were  reinforced 
by  the  troops  of  the  other  Peloponnesian  states,  and,  on  their  arrival 
in  Attica,  they  were  joined  by  eight  thousand  Athenians,  and  bodies 
of  troops  from  Plataea,  Thespiaea,  Salamis,  ^Egina,  and  Eubtea. 

4.  Sparta  having  long  been  regarded  as  the  leading  military  state 

monians?     15.  What  of  the  Athenians  ?    Their  families?     16.  How  did  they  receive 
•he  second  message  of  Mardonius?     17.  What  became  of  Lycidas  and  his  family  ? 

LXXV.  —  1.  After  ravaging  Athens,  where  did  the  troops  of  Mardonius  retire?  What 
»f  the  deDutation  of  Aristides?    How  long  was  it  obliged  to  wait  ?    3.  What  forces  were 


BATTLE  OF  PLAT^A.  191 

of  Greece,  Pausanius,  the  general  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  pj-sumed 
che  supreme  command  of  the  confederate  army,  which  consisted  alto- 
gether of  nearly  forty  thousand  heavy  armed,  and  about  seventy  thou- 
sand light  armed,  troops.  The  Athenian  division  was  placed  undei 
.he  command  of  Aristides. 


second  burning  of  Athens. 


5.  The  Greeks  immediately  moved  against  Mardonius,  whom  the* 
found  encamped  on  the  hanks  of  the  Asopus,  a  river  of  Bceotia, 
After  a  number  of  days  spent  in  marching  and  countermarching,  and 
in  occasional  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  the  Greeks  took  up  a  posi- 
tion near  the  foot  of  Mount  Cithaeron,  in  the  territory  of  Plataea,  with 
the  river  Asopus  in  front. 

6.  Thither  they  were  followed  by  Mardonius,  and  a  general  en- 
gagement followed,  in  which  the  Persians  were  defeated  with  tremen- 
dous slaughter  Mardonius  himself  was  among  the  number  of  the  slain. 
As  soon  as  his  death  was  known,  Artabazus,  the  next  in  command, 
quitted  the  field  with  an  unbroken  force  of  forty  thousand  Parthians, 
ind  hastened  by  forced  marches  towards  the  Hellespont. 

7.  The  remainder  of  the  Persian  army,  consisting  of  nearly  two 
•Hundred  thousand  men,  was  almost  utterly  destroyed ;  and  the  rich 
treasures  of  the  fallen  general's  camp  became  the  spoil  of  the  victors. 
On  the  very  same  day  on  which  this  great  battle  was  fought,  [the 
twenty-second  of  September,  479  B.  C.,]  a  sea-fight  took  place  at  the 

now  collected  together  ?    4.  Who  assumed  the  command  of  the  army?    Of  the  Athe- 
nian division  ?     5.  Where  was  the  position  of  Mardonius?     Of  the  Athenians? 
6.  What  was  the  result  of  the  battle  ?    What  of  Artabazus?    7.  What  of  the  sea-figo 


.$2  PERIOD  III. -49J  B    C.  TO  404  B.  C. 

promontory  of  Mycale,  in  Asia  Minor,  between  the  Grecian  and  Pel 
sian  fleets,  which  terminated  in  the  total  destruction  of  the  latter. 

8.  Greece  was  now  completely  freed  from  her  foreign  invaders,  and 
the  triumphant  issue  of  the  struggle  in  which  she  had  been  engaged 
for  the  preservation  of  her  independence  against  the  whole  strength 
of  the  mightiest  empire  on  the  earth,  offers  a  remarkable  example  of 
what  men  can  achieve,  even  under  the  greatest  disadvantages,  when 
striving  in  a  just,  and  honorable  cause. 

9.  The  Athenians  now  found  leisure  to  reconstruct  their  city. 
Under  the  direction  of  Themistocles,  they  commenced  the  work  of 
enclosing  it  with  strong  walls,  for  its  protection  against  future  attacks. 

10.  This  proceeding  awakened  the  jealousy  of  the  Lacedaemonians, 
who  sent  ambassadors  to  remonstrate  against  the  fortification  of  Athens, 
alleging  that  its  walls  would  be  unable  to  defend  it,  and  would  only 
render  it  an  useful  stronghold  for  the  Persians,  in  the  event  of  anothei 
invasion  of  Greece.  Being  alike  unwilling  to  quarrel  with  Sparta, 
and  reluctant  to  abandon  their  design  of  fortifying  their  city,  the 
Athenians  adopted  a  temporizing  policy. 

11.  They  reminded  the  Lacedaemonians,  that,  on  account  of  the 
exposed  situation  of  Athens,  so  near  the  sea-coast,  it  required  walls 
to  protect  it  from  the  attacks  of  pirates ;  but  they  denied  that  they 
contemplated  the  erection  of  such  fortifications  as  would  be  dangerous 
to  the  liberties  of  Greece,  and  promised  to  send  ambassadors  to  Sparta, 
who  should  show  that  they  were  doing  nothing  to  justify  alarm. 

12.  Accordingly,  Themistocles,  Aristides,  and  another  individual, 
named  Abronycus,  were  appointed  to  proceed  thither.  The  object  of 
the  Athenians  being  to  gain  time  for  carrying  forward  the  \;r  k  of 
fortification,  Themistocles  proceeded  first  to  Sparta  himself,  arranging 
that  Aristides  and  Abronycus  should  not  follow  him  until  the  walls 
should  have  reached  a  considerable  height. 

13.  After  his  arrival  in  Lacedsmon,  he  alleged  that  he  was  not  at 
liberty  to  give  the  promised  explanations  before  the  arrival  of  his  col- 
leagues ;  and  partly  on  this  pretext,  and  pertly  by  bribes  judiciously 
distributed,  he  contrived  to  gain  so  mu^1.  time  that  the  fortifications 
were  far  advanced  before  the  Spartan.'  lost  patience;  the  Athenians 
toiling  night  and  day  with  the  utmost  zeal,  and  even  the  women  and 
children  assisting,  as  far  as  they  wee  able,  in  the  important  work. 

14.  By  and  bye,  however,  acc>  unls  reached  Lacedaemon  of  the 
exertions  of  the  Athenians.  Tr.emistocles,  unable  to  soothe  the 
alarm  which  these  excited,  advised  the  Spartans  not  to  put  faith  in 
mere  rumors,  but  to  send  some  persons  of  rank  and  character  to 
Athens,  to  ascertain  by  personal  observation  what  was  really  going 
forward  there. 

15.  His  advice  being  followed,  the  Spartan  deputies  were,  by  his 

nt  Mycale  ?     What  was  the  date  of  this  battle  ?    8.  What  may  be  said  of  the  struggle  in 
which  Greece  had  been  engaged? 

9.  Whai  work  did  the  Athenians  now  commence  ?  10.  What  message  did  they  receive 
from  the  Lacedaemonians?  11.  What  were  they  reminded  of  by  the  Athenians  ?  Whit 
did  they  deny  I  hat  they  contemplated  ?  12.  Who  were  sent  as  ambassadors  to  Sparta  ? 
What  was  arranged  between  Themiotocles  and  the  other  ambassadors?  13.  What  did  he 
do  after  his  arrival  in  Lacedasmon  ?  How  did  the  Athenians  progress  in  the  work  of  for- 
Udcation  ?     14    What  did  Tkuamistof.les  advise  the  Spartans  to  do  ? 


FORTIFYING  OF  ATHENS.  191i 

aeeret  orders,  arrested  as  soon  as  they  arrived  in  Athens,  and  detained 
as  hostages  lor  the  safety  of  himself  and  his  colleagues,  who  by  this 
time  had  also  arrived  at  Sparta.  The  fortifies  rions  being  now  well 
advanced,  Themistucles  no  longer  scrupled  to  avow  the  artifice  he  had 
made  use  of  to  gain  time.        * 

16.  The  Lacedaemonians,  perceiving  they  had  been  outwitted,  dis- 
sembled their  resentment,  and  permitted  Themistocles  and  his  col 
leagues  to  return  home  in  safety;  but  they  never  forgave  him,  and 
their  subsequent  hostility  contributed  not  a  little  to  effect  his  ruin. 


CHAPTER  LXXVI. 

Fortifying  of  Athens. 

1.  Athens  had  hitherto  had  no  port  fitted  to  arfoiu  propei  accom- 
modation to  her  extensive  maritime  commerce.  To  supply  this  defi- 
ciency, Themistocles  now  engaged  his  fellow-citizens  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  commodious  harbor  at  Piraeus,  a  place  about  five  miles 
distant  from  the  city.  A  town  was  at  the  same  time  built  there,  and 
surrounded  with  even  stronger  fortifications  than  those  of  Athens 
itself. 

2.  The  walls  were  formed  of  large  square  masses  of  marble,  bound 
together  with  iron,  and  were  so  thick  that  two  carriages  could  move 
along  the  top  of  them  abreast.  By  these  measures,  greatly  increased 
facilities  were  given  to  the  foreign  trade  of  Athens,  and  the  city  soon 
became  much  more  opulent  and  splendid  than  it  had  been  before  the 
Persian  invasion. 

3.  About  the  same  time,  perceiving  that  the  people  submitted  with 
impatience  to  the  law  of  Solon  which  made  the  poorer  classes  inel- 
igible to  the  principal  offices  in  the  government,  and  fearing  that,  if 
the  invidious  distinction  were  longer  insisted  on,  civil  dissensions 
might  arise ;  Aristides  proposed  and  carried  the  repeal  of  the  law 
referred  to;  and  thus,  although  aristocratical  in  feeling  himself,  was 
instrumental  in  rendering  the  Athenian  government  still  more  demo- 
cratical. 

4.  Notwithstanding  the  invaluable  civil  and  military  services  of 
Themistocles,  a  strong  party  was  gradually  springing  up  in  Athens 
against  him,  fostered  partly  by  the  intrigues  of  the  Spartans,  and 
partly  arising  from  the  pomp  he  began  tp  aiFect,  and  the  ostentatious 
manner  in  which  he  often  referred,  in  his  public  harangues,  to  the 
greatness  of  his  deserts . 

15.  What  happened  iq  the  Spartan  deputies?  Did  Themistocles  avow  th*  artif.ca  he 
had  made  use  of?     IG.  What  of  the  Spartans  ? 

I  .XX  VI.—  1.  What  of  the  harbor  at  Piraeus?  2.  The  walls  ?  The  effec*,  of  thia  m&u 
arc?  3.  What  ofthe  old  law  of  Solon?  The  repeal  of  this  law?  4  What  of  the  part> 
"Jgginning  to  sprine  up  against  Themistocles? 


•y4 


TRIMon   III.  —493   B.  C.  TO  401   E.   C 


5.  His  popularity,  instead  of  affording  him  protection  against  the 
machinations  of  his  enemies,  only  served  to  increase  his  danger.  It 
was  alleged  that  he  possessed  an  extent  of  influence  incompatible  with 
the  safety  of  republican  institutions,  and  that,  from  his  recent  deport- 
ment, there  was  reason  to  suspect  him  of  an  intention  to  establish 
himself  in  absolute  power. 

6.  Ever  jealous  upon  this  point,  the  citizens  took  the  alarm, 
resorted  to  the  ostracism,  and  the  hero  of  Salamis  was  hurriedly  con- 
demned to  exile.  To  the  credit  of  Aristides,  it  deserves  to  be  men- 
tioned, that  he  refused  on  one  occasion  to  join  the  general  clamor 
and  strongly  deprecated  the  violent  proceedings  of  the  Athenians, 
although  his  own  banishment,  at  a  former  period,  had  been  princi- 
pally owing  to  the  ungenerous  intrigues  of  Themistocles. 

7     The  war  with  Persia  was  meanwhile  continued,  with  marked 


Cyprus. 

pue?ess  on  the  part  of  the  Greeks.     The  combined  fleets,  commanded 
by  the  Spartan  king,  Pausanius,  after  reducing  the  strong  Persian 

5.  What  was  the  effect  of  his  popularity  ?     What  was  said  of  his  influence?     6.  To 
%hat  was  he  condemned  ?    What  of  the  conduct  of  Aristides  on  this  occasion?   7   YVIiat 


PAUSANIAS.-  DEATH  OF  ARISTIDES.  196 

garrison  in  the  island  of  Cyprus,  sailed  to  the  Bosphorus  —  a  narrow 
channel  which  connects  the  Propontis,  or  Sea  of  Marmora,  with  the 
Euxine,  or  Black  Sea  —  where  they  besieged  and  took  Byzantium, 
now  called  Constantinople. 

8.  Pausanias,  who  was  a  vain  and  weak-minded  man,  was  so 
intoxicated  with  this  success,  that  he  formed  the  extravagant  design 
of  arrogating  to  himself  the  sovereignty  of  the  whole  of  Greece,  and 
secretly  solicited  assistance  from  the  Persian  monarch  to  carry  his 
intention  into  effect. 

9.  Xerxes  approved  of  the  scheme,  and  not  only  promised  the 
required  aid,  but  offered  to  give  Pausanias  one  of  his  daughters  in 
marriage,  on  condition  that  Greece  became  a  dependency  of  the  Per- 
sian crown.  Pausanias,  already  in  imagination  the  son-in-law  of  the 
"  Great  King,"  had  the  folly  to  assume  openly  the  dress  and  manners 
of  an  Asiatic  prince,  and  to  behave  with  the  utmost  insolence  towards 
the  other  commanders  of  the  fleet. 

10.  The  result  was,  that  the  confederates,  becoming  doubtful  of  his 
fidelity  and  disgusted  with  his  tyranny,  deposed  him  from  the  chief 
command,  which  they  bestowed  on  Aristides  and  Cimon,  the  son  or 
Miltiades,  the  joint  leaders  of  the  Athenian  squadron,  whose  ability 
and  moderation  had  gained  them  universal  approbation. 

11.  Pausanias  was  soon  after  recalled  to  Sparta  on  an  accusation 
of  treason.  Being  accmitted,  he  continued  for  some  time  longer  his 
treasonable  correspondence  with  the  Persians,  until  complete  proof 
was  obtained  of  his  guilt,  and  he  was  forced  to  fly  for  refuge  to  a 
temple  of  Minerva.  The  Spartans  were  unwilling  to  violate  tha 
sanctity  of  the  temple  by  dragging  him  from  it,  but  they  built  a  wall 
around  it,  and  left  him  to  perish  miserably  from  want  of  sustenance. 

12.  By  the  misconduct  of  Pausanias,  Sparta  lost  its  ancient  superi- 
ority in  the  military  affairs  of  Greece.  Athens  thenceforth  became 
the  leading  state,  and,  under  her  auspices,  a  new  organization  of  the 
confederacy  was  formed.  The  sacred  island  of  Delos  was  selected 
as  the  place  of  meeting  for  the  general  council  of  the  Grecian  states, 
and  as  the  depository  of  the  public  treasure. 

13.  It  was  agreed  that  the  confederated  states  should  annually 
raise  among  them  a  sum  of  four  hundred  and  sixty  talents — about 
$460,000  —  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  Aristides  was 
appointed  to  determine  the  proportion  of  this  sum  which  was  to  be 
contributed  by  each  state. 

14.  This  delicate  task  he  performed  with  so  much  fairness  that  all 
parties  united  in  applauding  his  conduct.  Soon  after,  however,  the 
illustrious  bearer  of  the  title  of  "the  Just"  died,  full  of  years  and 
honors.  Although  he  had  successively  filled  many  important  official 
situations,  so  faithful  nad  he  been  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  and 
so  little  attentive  to  his  private  interests,  that  he  remained  always 

of  the  Grecian  fleet  in  the  mean  time  ?  What  garrison  did  it  reduce?  What  city  did  it 
take?  8.  What  of  Pausanias  ?  9  His  correspondence  with  Xerxes?  His  dress? 
ijehavior?     10.  The  result?     Who  received  the  chief  command  ? 

!  1.  What  now  happened  to  Pausanias  ?  His  death  ?  12.  What  did  Sparta  lose  by  the 
misconduct  of  Pausanias?  What  of  the  island  of  Delos?  13.  What  sum  did  the  states 
agree  to  raise  annually  ?    For  what  purpose  was  Aristides  appointed  ?     14.  How  did  he 


196 


PERIOD  III. -493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 


poor,  and  did  not  even  leave  behind  him  money  enough  to  pav  for  hi* 
funeral 


Aristides. 

15.  He  was  buried  at  the  expense  of  the  state,  and  his  countrymen 
testified  their  respect  for  his  memory  by  erecting  a  monument  1o  him 
at  Phalerum,  bestowing  a  marriage  portion  on  each  of  his  daughters, 
and  granting  a  piece  of  land  and  an  annual  pension  to  his  son  Lysim- 
achus.  The  character  of  Aristides  is  the  finest  that  antiquity  has 
furnished,  and  he  may  fairly  be  placed  by  the  side  of  our  own  immor- 
tal Washington. 


CHAPTER  LXXVII. 

Themistocles. 

1.  Themistocles  died  nearly  at  the  same  time,  but  in  circum- 
stances very  different  from  those  of  his  political  opponent.  When 
banished  from  Athens,  he  had  gone  to  reside  at  Argos,  where  he  was 
visited  by  Pausanias,  the  Spartan  general,  who  endeavored,  but  with- 
out success,  to  induce  the  exile  to  join  in  his  treasonable  intrigues. 

2.  But  after  the  death  of  Pausanias,  some  papers  were  found 
which  showed  that  Themistocles  had  been  at  least  aware  of  the  traitor's 
designs,  and  the  Spartans,  glad  of  an  opportunity  of  injuring  a  man 
whom  they  hated,  sent  messengers  to  Athens  to  demand  that  he  should 
he  brought  to  trial  before  the  Amphictyonic  council  for  treason  against 
Greece. 


perform  his  task?    What  of  his  death  ?     His  poverty?     15.  His  burial  ?    How  did  the 
Athenians  testify  their  respect  for  his  memory  ? 
LXXVII.  —  1.  What  of  Themistocles  in  the  mean  time?    Pausanias?    2.  What  Imp 


THEMISTOCLES. 


197 


3  The  Athenians  consented,  and  Themistocles  was  summoned  to 
appear  accordingly:  but,  instead  of  obeying  the  citation,  he  flud 
in  the  island  of  Corey ra,  whence  he  crossed  over  into  Epirus.  Noi 
finding  himself  even  here  in  security,  he  advanced  into  Molossia, 
although  he  knew  that  Admetus,  the  king  of  that  country,  was  his 
personal  enemy. 

4.  Entering  the  royal  residence  in  the  absence  of  Admetus,  The- 
mistocles informed  the  queen  of  the  dangers  which  pursued  him,  and. 


!:i:",,':,'m>;V:'' 


Themiswctes  at  the  court  of  Admetus. 

by  her  advice,  took  one  of  her  children  in  his  arms,  and,  kneeling 
before  the  household  gods,  awaited  the  return  of  the  king.  Admetus, 
moved  with  pity  at  such  a  sight,  generously  forgot  his  enmity,  and 
granted  the  fallen  chief  his  protection. 

5.  Not  yet,  however,  was  Themistocles  allowed  to  taste  repose. 
Messengers  from  Athens  and  Sparta  soon  arrived  to  demand  the  sur- 
render of  the  fugitive,  and  although  Admetus  honorably  refused  to 
-omply,  Themistocles  perceived  the  propriety  of  his  removing  from  a 
place  in  which  his  residence  would  expose  his  protector  to  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Grecian  confederacy. 


pened  after  the  death  of  Pausanias?  3.  Where  did  Themistocles  make  his  escape? 
Where  did  he  next  go?  4.  What  did  he  do  in  the  palace  of  Admetus?  Did  he  reoeiv? 
tiis  protection?  5.  Was  he  allowed  repose  ?  What  of  messengers  from  Athens  and 
Sparta  if  What  did  Themistocles  think  it  proper  to  do?  6.  Where  did  he  next  journey  I 
17* 


19S 


PEKIOD   III.  -403  B.  C.  TO  401   B. 


f>.  He,  therefore,  journeyed  through  Macedonia  to  Pydna  a  port  on 
(he  ./Egean,  where  he  embarked,  under  an  assumed  name,  on  board  a 
merchant  vessel,  and,  after  narrowly  escaping  capture  by  the  confed- 
erate fleet  at  the  island  of  Naxos,  arrived  safely  at  Ephesus,  in  Asia 
Minor. 

7.  The  next  step  which  he  took  was  a  bold  and  remarkable  one 
He  wrote  to  Artaxerxes,  who  had  recently  succeeded  his  father, 
Xerxes,  upon  the  Persian  throne,  claiming  protection  on  account  of 
services  formerly  rendered  to  the  late  king. 


Themistocles  seeks  protection  of  the  King  of  Persia 

8.  Artaxerxes  received  the  application  favorably,  invited  Themis 
tocles  to  his  court  at  Susa,  and,  on  his  arrival  there,  made  him  a 
present  of  two  hundred  talents  —  about  two  hundred  thousand  dollaa 
--telling  him  that,  as  that  was  the  amount  of  the  price  the  Persian 
government  had  set  upon  his  head,  he  was  entitled  to  receive  it  for 
voluntarily  placing  himself  in  their  hands. 

9.  In  the  first  year  of  his  residence  in  Persia,  the  exiled  chief  learnt 
;he  language  so  well  that  he  was  able  to  converse  with  the  king  with- 
jut  the  aid  of  an  interpreter.  His  brilliant  talents  and  insinuating 
Tianners  soon  rendered  him  a  great  favorite  with  Artaxerxes.  who. 

Adhere  did  he  embark?    Where  did  he  arrive?     7.  What  was  the  next  step  that  lie 
ook  ?    8.  How  did  Artaxerxes  receive  Tlnmistocles  ?     Where  did  the  Persian  monarch 
laid  his  court? 
9.  What  of  Themistocles  in  Persia?     What  office  did  Artaxerxes  confer  upon  him  1 


CIMON.  — SPLENDOR  OF  ATHENS.  li)l 

after  a  time,  conferred  upon  him  an  important  command  in  Aeia  Minor 
and  assigned  the  revenues  of  several  cities  for  his  maintenance. 

10.  In  one  of  these,  named  Magnesia,  he  resided  for  a  time  in  great 
splendor ;  but,  even  while  enjoying  the  choicest  luxuries  of  the  east, 
he  could  not  avoid  tasting  the  bitterness  of  depending  on  the  bounty 
of  his  country's  enemy. 

11.  In  the  heat  of  his  anger  at  the  persecution  he  had  suffered,  and, 
probably,  to  increase  his  importance  in  the  eyes  of  Artaxerxes,  he  had 
boasted  of  his  power  to  reduce  Greece  to  subjection.  But,  on  calmer 
thought,  this  weighed  heavily  upon  his  mind,  and,  when  Artaxerxes 
prepared  to  attack  Greece  anew,  Themistocles  terminated  nis  own 
existence  by  swallowing  poison. 

12.  The  citizens  of  Magnesia  erected  a  splendid  monument  to  his 
memory,  and  conferred  peculiar  privileges  on  his  descendants.  It  is 
said  that  his  remains  were,  at  his  own  request,  conveyed  to  Attica 
where  they  were  secretly  interred,  the  laws  prohibiting  the  burial  of 
persons  who  had  been  exiled  within  the  Athenian  territories. 

13.  The  character  of  Themistocles  need  hardly  be  summed  up, 
after  so  full  an  account  of  his  life.  His  talents  must  ever  place  him 
among  the  wonderful  men  of  our  race,  but  his  want  of  integrity  and 
his  selfishness  degraded  him  to  a  low  standard  in  the  scale  of  moral 
elevation. 


CHAPTER   LXXVIII. 

Cimon. —  Splendor  of  Athens. 

1.  After  the  death  of  Aristides,  his  colleague,  Cimon,  a  man  of 
extraordinary  talent,  was  invested  with  the  sole  command  of  the  con- 
federate fleet,  and  carried  on  the  war  against  Persia  with  great  suc- 
cess. After  reducing  some  towns  on  the  coast  of  Thrace,  which 
were  still  held  by  the  Persians,  he  passed  over  into  Asia  Minor.  The 
Ionians  had  already  regained  their  freedom,  and  Cimon  now  eman- 
cipated the  Dorian  cities  of  Caria  from  the  Persian  yoke. 

2.  He  then  continued  his  triumphant  progress  eastward  through  the 
provinces  of  Lycia  and  Pamphylia,  in  the  latter  of  which  he  gained 
two  decisive  victories,  one  by  sea,  and  the  other  by  land,  on  the  same 
day,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Eurymedon,  (469  B.  C.)  Two 
hundred  of  the  Persian  war  ships  were  taken,  and  nearly  all  the  rest 
destroyed,  while  the  land  army  was  almost  wholly  cut  to  pieces. 

3.  The  Grecian  fleet  then  proceeded  to  Cyprus,  where  they 
attacked  and  captured  a  squadron  of  eighty  Phoenician  vessels  of  war. 
on  their  way  to  reinforce  the  Persian  fleet  in  the  Eurymedon.     By 

'HI    What  of  his  residence  in  Magnesia?     II.   What  had  he  said  in  the  heat  of  his  amrer  ? 
What  was  the  cause  of  his  death?     12.  What  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory 
What  of  his  remains?     13.  What  mav  be  said  of  the  character  of  Themistocles? 

LXXVIII.  -  1.  What  of  Cimon  ?  What  did  he  do  on  the  coast  of  Thrice  ?  What  of 
the  loniar.s?  2.  What  of  his  victories?  The  Persian  ships?  The  Persian  army? 
3.  Where  did  the  Grecian  fleet  ,ww  proceed  ?     Its  success?     J.   Why  was  the  war  con 


20U  PERIOD  111—493  B.  C.  TO  401  B.  C. 

these  splendid  victories,  «he  naval  power  of  Persia  was  almost  annihi 
lated,  and  the  spirit  of  Artaxerxes  so  completely  humbled  that  he 
durst  no  longer  undertake  offensive  operations  against  Greece. 

4.  Here,  therefore,  the  war  ought  to  have  terminated  ;  but  so  great 
and 'valuable  had  been  the  spoils  obtained  by  the  confederates,  that 
they  were  unwilling  to  relinquish  the  profitable  contest.  The  war, 
therefore,  was  continued  for  twenty  years  longer,  less,  apparently, 
for  the  chastisement  of  Persia,  than  for  the  plunder  of  her  conquered 
provinces. 

5.  But,  now  that  all  danger  was  over,  many  of  the  smaller  states, 
whose  population  was  scanty,  began  to  grow  weary  of  the  contest, 
and  to  furnish  with  reluctance  their  annual  contingent  of  men  to  rein- 
force the  allied  fleet.  It  was,  in  consequence  arranged  that  those 
states  whose  citizens  were  unwilling  to  perform  personal  service, 
should  send  merely  their  proportion  of  vessels,  and  pay  into  the  com~ 
mon  treasury  an  annual  subsidy,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  sailors 
with  whom  the  Athenians  undertook  to  man  the  fleet. 

6.  The  unforeseen  but  natural  consequence  of  this  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  complete  supremacy  of  Athens.  The  annual  subsi- 
dies gradually  assumed  the  character  of  a  regular  tribute,  and  were 
compulsorily  levied  as  such  ;  while  the  recusant  communities,  deprived 
of  their  fleets,  which  had  been  given  up  to  the  Athenians,  were  unable 
to  offer  effectual  resistance  to  the  oppressive  exactions  of  the  dominant 
state. 

7.  The  Athenians  were  thus  raised  to  an  unprecedented  pitch  of 
power  and  opulence,  and  enabled  to  adorn  their  city,  to  live  in  dig: 
nified  idleness,  and  to  enjoy  a  constant  succession  of  the  most  costly 
public  amusements,  at  the  expense  of  the  vanquished  Persians,  and  of 
the  scarcely  more  leniently  treated  communities  of  the  dependent  con- 
federacy. 

8.  The  fortifications  of  the  Acropolis,  or  citadel  of  Athens,  were 
completed  ;  and  the  way  leading  from  the  city  to  the  harbor  of  Piraeus, 
a  distance  of  five  miles,  was  protected  by  two  long  walls,  of  strength 
and  thickness  equal  to  those  with  which  Themistocles  had  surrounded 
the  town  of  Piraeus  itself;  so  that  the  circuit  of  the  fortifications  of 
Athens,  including  those  of  its  port  and  of  the  line  of  communication 
between  them,  now  measured  nearly  eighteen  miles. 

9.  The  liberality  of  Cimon  also  contributed  much  to  the  adornment 
of  Athens  and  the  comfort  of  its  poorer  citizens.  Instead  of  reserving 
for  his  own  use  the  valuable  share  of  the  Persian  spoils  which  fell  to 
him  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  confederate  forces,  he  expended  the 
whole  for  the  public  benefit,  employing  it  in  the  construction  of  mag- 
nificent porticos  and  the  formation  of  shady  groves,  tasteful  gardens, 
and  other  places  of  public  accommodation  and  resort. 

10.  Nor  did  he  stop  here  ;  for,  declaring  that  he  regarded  whatever 
he  possessed  as  the  property  of  all  the  citizens,  he  threw  down  th 

tinued  ?  5.  What  of  the  smaller  states,  now  that  the  danger  was  over  ?  What  was  in 
consequence  arranged ?  6.  What  was  the  natural  consequence  of  this?  What  of  the 
annual  subsidies?  7.  What  were  the  Athenians  thus  enabled  to  do ?  8.  The  fortifica- 
tions of  the  Acropolis  ?     Piraeus? 

9.  What  of  the  liberality  of  Cimon?  How  did  he  expend  his  share  of  the  Persian 
irjoils?     li).  What  other  charitable  deeds  did  he  perform?     How  was  he  prompted  t 


REBELLION  OF  SPARTAN  HELC TS.  20 1 

fanr.es  of  his  gardens  and  orchards,  and  invited  all  to  enjoy  them,  and 
partake  of  their  produce  ;  he  kept  a  free  table  daily  at  his  own  house 
fbi  the  benefit  of  the  poorer  classes,  and  when,  in  going-  about  the 
streets,  he  met  respectable  citizens  poorly  clad,  he  often  commanded 
some  of  his  splendidly  dressed  attendants  to  change  clothes  with  them. 
To  these  acts,  Cimon  was  partly  prompted  by  the  intrinsic  generosity 
of  his  disposition,  and  partly  by  a  politic  consideration  of  the  necessity 
of  courting  popular  favor  in  a  state  so  democratic  as  Athens. 

11.  The  fear  of  subjugation  by  a  foreign  power,  which  had  been 
the  only  effectual  bond  of  union  among  the  numerous  independent 
communities  of  Greece,  being  dispelled,  symptoms  of  that  unhappy 
disposition  to  civil  dissension,  which  was  the  source  of  numberless 
evils  to  the  Grecian  race,  speedily  began  to  appear. 

12.  Old  jealousies  were  revived,  and  new  causes  of  offence  found 
out  or  imagined.  Lacedaemon  beheld  with  jealous  displeasure  the 
rapid  advancement  of  Athens  in  wealth  and  influence,  while  the 
haughty  and  overbearing  conduct  of  Attica  towards  those  whom  it 
termed  allies,  but  treated  as  vassals,  was  submitted  to  with  impa- 
tience, and  repaid  either  with  secret  hatred,  or  with  open,  though 
ineffectual,  hostility. 

13.  In  this  state  of  things,  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  of  Thasos, 
considering  themselves  aggrieved  by  some  of  the  measures  of  the 
Athenians,  renounced  the  confederacy,  and  sent  messengers  to  solicit 
the  protection  and  assistance  of  Sparta.  An  Athenian  force,  com- 
manded by  Cimon,  immediately  proceeded  to  Thasos,  and  speedily 
^educed  the  whole  island,  except  its  principal  town.  This  place, 
being  well  fortified,  and  defended  with  obstinate  valor,  held  out  for 
a  period  of  three  years,  and  at  last  surrendered  on  honorable  term.* 


CHAPTER    LXXIX. 

Rebellion  of  Spartan  Helots.  —  Rise  of  Pericles. 

1.  Meanwhile  the  Lacedaemonians  had  warmly  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  Thasians,  and,  secretly  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  break 
with  Athens,  had  been  on  the  point,of  invading  Attica,  when  a  dread- 
ful calamity,  with  which  they  were  suddenly  overtaken,  compelled 
them  to  abandon  their  design. 

2.  In  the  year  464  B.  C.,  Sparta  was  overwhelmed  by  an  earth- 
quake, the  repeated  and  violent  shocks  of  which  threw  down  or 
engulfed  all  the  houses  in  the  city  except  five,  and  destroyed  about 
twenty  thousand  of  the  inhabitants.  This  dreadful  occurrence  was 
followed  by  a  rebellion  of  the  Helots  or  slaves,  who  thought  it  a.  good 
opportunity  to  regain  their  freedom. 

3.  but  for  the  prudent  precaution  of  King  Archidamus,    who 

these  acts?     11.   What  of  civil  dissension  in  Greece  ?     12.  What  of  the  feelings  of  Lace- 

daemon  towards  Athens  ?     13.   What  of  the  island  of  Thasos  ?     lis  reduction  by  Cimon  1 

LXXIX.  —  1.    What  were  the  Lacedaemonians  on  the  point  of  doing  ?     How  were  they 

prevented?    2.    What  of  the  earthquake?    By  what  was  it  followed?    3.    What  »••«■ 


202  PERIOD  III.— 493  B.  C    TO  404  B.C. 

apprehensive  of  such  a  revolt,  had  caused  the  trumpets  to  sound  to 
arms  during  the  first  alarm,  the  freemen  of  Lacedaemon  would  have 
paid  with  their  lives  for  the  oppression  and  cruelty  with  which  they 
had  for  many  centuries  treated  their  unfortunate  bondsmen.  The 
Helots,  finding  their  masters  under  arms,  and  prepared  to  repel  their 
attack,  retired  to  the  strong  fortress  of  Ithome,  where  they  set  the 
whole  strength  and  prowess  of  the  Spartans  at  defiance  for  the  space 
of  ten  years. 

4.  In  the  course  of  this  lengthened  siege,  the  Lacedaemonians 
requested  and  obtained  assistance  from  Athens  and  several  others  of 
the  confederated  states  ;  but,  in  consequence  of  a  mutual  mistrust 
which  sprang  up,  the  Spartans  soon  dismissed  the  Athenian  auxilia 
ries,  under  the  pretext  that  their  aid  was  no  longer  required. 

5.  As  they  still  retained  the  auxiliaries  belonging  to  the  other 
states,  the  Athenians  felt  the  dismissal  as  an  insult,  and  were  so 
irritated  by  it,  that,  immediately  after  the  return  of  their  troops  from 
before  Ithome,  they  passed  a  decree  for  dissolving  the  alliance  with 
Sparta,  and  formed  a  league  with  its  inveterate  enemy,  the  republic 
of  Argos.  Thus  were  the  seeds  sown  of  a  rancorous  hate  between 
the  two  leading  cities  of  Greece,  which  afterwards  gave  rise  to  the 
protracted  and  ruinous  contest  known  by  the  name  of  "  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  war." 

6.  Being  favorable  to  an  aristocratic  mode  of  government,  Cimon 
had  all  along  been  an  admirer  of  the  institutions  of  Sparta,  and 
friendly  to  that  state.  When  his  countrymen,  therefore,  began  to 
look  with  hostility  on  Sparta,  his  popularity  declined,  and  the  .demo 
cratic  opposition  at  length  became  strong  enough  to  propose  and  carry 
his  banishment  by  the  ostracism. 

7.  The  ostensible  leader  of  the  party  which  now  came  into  power 
was  a  person  named  Ephialtes,  but  the  real  director  of  its  movements 
was  Pericles,  the  son  of  a  wealthy  and  distinguished  citizen,  named 
Xanthippus,  who  had  commanded  the  Athenian  squadron  at  the 
memorable  sea-fight  of  Mycale. 

8.  The  talerus  of  Pericles  were  of  the  very  first  order,  and  they 
had  been  carefully  cultivated  by  the  ablest  tutorage  which  Greece 
could  afford.  The  illustrious  sage,  Anaxagoras  of  Clazomene,  had 
been  his  instructor  in  natural  and  moral  science,  and  had  imbued  his 
mind  with  opinions  far  more  enlarged  and  liberal  than  those  current 
at  the  time  ;  so  that  he  was  no  less  remarkable  for  the  superiority  of 
his  intellectual  acquirements,  than  for  his  freedom  from  the  prejudices 
and  superstitions  of  the  vulgar. 

9.  In  person  he  was  handsome,  and  bore  so  strong  a  resemblance 
to  the  usurper  Pisistratus,  that  he  was  for  some  time  deterred  from 
taking  a  prominent  part  in  public  affairs,  by  the  superstitious  jealousy 
with  which  the  Athenians  regarded  him  on  that  account.  In  manner 
he  was  grave  and  dignified,  and  although  he  was  always  affable  and 

caution  had  King  Archidamus  taken  ?  What  was  thus  prevented  ?  What  did  the 
Helots  do?  4.  What  happened  between  the  Spartans  and  Athenians?  5.  What  decree 
lid  the  Athenians  pass?    What  was  the  effect  of  this  decree  ? 

6.  What  of  Cimon  at  this  period?  -His  banishment?  7.  What  of  Ephialtes? 
Pericles?    &    Hi«  talents  i    Who  had  been   his  tutor?    What  of  his  acquirements 


PERICLES. 


20!i 


B  lrteous  in  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow-citizens,  he  never  u.ingled 
n  their  social  parties,  and  rarely  was  observed  even  to  smile  ;  pre- 
ferring study  to  amusement,  and  the  calls  of  duty  to  the  allurements 
jf  idle  pleasure 


Pericles 


10.  After  serving  for  several  years  in  the  Athenian  army,  ne 
ventured  to  take  a  part  in  the  business  of  the  popular  assembly,  where 
he  soon  acquired  a  large  share  of  influence.  His  eloquence  was  so 
splendid  and  impressive,  that  it.  was  compared  to  thunder  and  light- 
ning, and  his  orations  possessed  an  elaborate  polish,  and  a  richness 
of  illustration,  far  surpassing  anything  that  had  been  previously  heard 
in  Athens. 

11.  Nor  were  his  readiness  and  tact  inferior  to  his  eloquence  ;  he 
never  lost  his  self-possession,  or  allowed  his  enemies  to  betray  him 
into  an  impolitic  exhibition  of  mortification  or  anger,  but  steadily  and 
calmly  pursued  that  course  of  whicli  his  judgment  approved,  unmind- 
ful of  the  violence  and  abuse  of  his  opponents. 

1    What  of  his  person  ?    His  nsemblance  to  Pisistrattis?    His  manner  5     If).  His  infld 
*.;ct;  i;.  llie  popular  assembly  i    His  eloquence  ?     11.   His  readiness  anil  tact? 


1*04  PKRIOD  III.  — 493  B.C.  TO  404   B  V. 

CHAPTER  LXXX. 

Ascendency  of  Pericles. 

1.  The  banishment  of  Cimon  afforded  Pericles  a  field  worthy  of 
his  talents  and  ambition.  Athens  had  now  reached  the  height  bf  hei 
greatness.  The  acknowledged  head  of  the  Grecian  confederacy,  and 
the  virtual  sovereign  of  those  numerous  communities  on  the  mainland 
and  islands  of  Greece,  and  the  coasts  of  Asia  Minor,  which  she  still 
deigned  to  honor  with  the  title  of  her  alius,  she  wielded  a  power 
greater  than  that  possessed  by  the  mightiest  contemporary  monarchs. 

2.  She  had  now,  in  fact,  become  the  capital,  not  merely  of  Attica, 
or  even  of  Greece  proper,  but  of  the  whole  civilised  world ;  and  by 
the  liberal  rewards  which  her  princely  wealth  enabled  her  to  bestow 
on  men  of  genius  and  learning,  had  drawn  into  her  bosom  the  most 
eminent  philosophers,  orators,  poets,  and  artists,  from  all  parts  of  the 
earth. 

3.  To  be  the  first  man  in  such  a  commonwealth  was  an  object 
worthy  of  ambition  the  most  soaring,  and  to  this  lofty  position  Pericles 
now  beheld  the  path  opening  before  him.  But  to  establish  and  pre- 
serve his  ascendency  in  the  popular  assembly,  it  was  indispensable 
that  he  should  provide  a  constant  succession  of  magnificent  spectacles 
and  festive  entertainments  to  the  citizens  ;  and  not  being  possessed  of 
a  large  fortune,  like  Cimon,  he  could  not  afford  the  great  expenditure 
which  this  required. 

4.  The  thought  occurred  that  the  public  treasury  might  supply  the 
deficiencies  of*  his  private  purse  ;  but  then  the  disbursements  of  the 
public  money  were  regulated  by  the  court  of  Areopagus,  most  of 
the  members  of  which  belonged  to  the  aristocratical  party,  and  would 
have  opposed  an  outlay  calculated  to  strengthen  the  influence  of  the 
democratic  leaders. 

5.  Pericles,  therefore,  resolved,  as  a  preliminary  step,  to  abridge 
♦he  power  of  that  hitherto  respected  and  influential  body,  and  employed 
Ephialtes  to  procure  a  decree  of  the  general  assembly  for  depriving 
the  court  of  Areopagus  of  all  control  over  the  issues  from  the  treasury, 
and  transferring  much  of  its  judicial  authority  to  the  popular  tribu- 
nals. 

0.  He  then  proceeded  to  bribe  the  people  with  their  own  money, 
by  increasing  the  pay  of  those  who  officiated  as  jurors  in  the  courts 
of  justice,  and  giving  wages  to  the  citizens  for  their  attendance  in  the 
political  assemblies.  Large  sums  were  likewise  employed  in  adorn- 
ing the  city  with  magnificent  temples,  theatres,  gymnasia,  porticos 
and  other  public  buildings. 

LXXX.  —  1.  What  was  now  afforded  Pericles?  What  of  the  power  of  Athens? 
2.  What  of  her  liberality  to  men  of  cenius?  3.  What  of  the  ambition  of  Pericles? 
What  was  necessary  to  preserve  his  ascendency  ?  Why  could  ne  not  do  lhis  f  4.  How 
were  the  public  disbursements  regulated?  5.  What  did  Pericles  resolve  to  do?  How 
l\t\  he  bring  it  about? 

fc   How  did  he  brib-  the  people?    How  did  he  appropriate  .arge  sums  of  money 


CIVIL  DISSENSIONS.  203 

7.  The  number  and  splendor  of  the  religious  festivals  were 
.ncreased,  and  the  citizens  were  daily  feasted  and  diverted  at  the 
public  expense.  To  provide  funds  to  meet  this  new  expenditure,  lie 
greatly  increased  the  amount  of  the  tribute  exacted  from  the  allied 
dependencies,  so  that  it  now  amounted  to  an  annual  revenue  equiva- 
lent to  fifteen  hundred  thousand  dollars — a  large  sum  in  those  days, 
when  money  was  far  more  valuable  than  at  present. 

8.  As  the  war  with  Persia  furnished  the  sole  pretext  for  levying 
this  heavy  impost,  that  contest  was  still  persisted  in.  Soon  after  the 
accession  of  Pericles  to  power,  an  Athenian  armament  was  despatched 
to  Egypt,  to  assist  the  inhabitants  of  that  country  in  a  revolt  against 
the  Persian  authority.  But  instead  of  yielding  a  rich  harvest  of  spoils, 
as  had  been  expected,  the  expedition  turned  out  unfortunately;  after 
a  contest  of  five  years'  duration,  the  Egyptian  rebellion  was  suppressed, 
its  leader,  Inarus,  crucified,  and  most  of  his  Grecian  auxiliaries 
destroyed,  by  the  Persians,  (454  B.  C.) 

9.  Meanwhile,  civil  dissensions  had  broken  out  in  Greece  itself. 
A  war  between  the  Dorians  and  Phocians,  in  which  the  Lacedaemo- 
nians took  part  with  the  Dorians,  eventually  embroiled  most  of  the 
Grecian  states,  and  particularly  Athens  and  Sparta.  Battles  were 
fought  with  various  success  at  Zanagra  and  CEnophyta,  cities  of 
Bceotia,  (456  B.  C.  ;)  and  the  island  of  iEgina  was  subjugated  by 
the  Athenians. 

10.  A  war,  however,  in  which  little  either  of  glory  or  profit  could 
accrue  to  them,  was  not  likely  to  be  very  popular  with  a  community 
which  had  been  dazzled  by  the  triumph  and  enriched  by  the  spoils  of 
Cimou's  splendid  campaigns  ;  and,  accordingly,  an  almost  general 
desire  soon  began  to  manifest  itself  in  Athens  for  the  cessation  of 
hostilities  with  Sparta,  as  also  for  the  recall  of  the  statesman  whose 
pacific  views  and  friendly  disposition  towards  the  Lacedaemonians 
pointed  him  out  as  the  most  fitting  person  to  negotiate  a  peace  with 
that  people. 

11.  Perceiving  the  current  of  public  opinion,  and  rightly  thinking 
that  he  would  act  more  wisely  in  going  along  with  than  in  opposing 
it,  Pericles  affected  to  be  also  desirous  of  the  recall  of  his  rival,  and 
he  accordingly  brought  forward,  and  carried  in  the  assembly  of  the 
people,  a  decree  reversing  Cimon's  sentence  of  banishment,  (453 
B.C.) 

12.  The  return  of  Cimon  was  immediately  followed  by  an  inter- 
mission of  the  war,  and,  after  three  years  spent  in  negotiations,  a 
truce  for  five  years  was  agreed  upon.  The  attention  of  the  Athenians 
was  then  turned  to  the  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  with 
Persia.  Cimon  was  sent  with  a  fleet  of  two  hundred  sail  to  seize  the 
island  of  Cyprus,  but  while  engaged  in  the  prosecution  of  this  enter- 

'.  What  of  the  religious  festivals  ?  How  was  this  new  expenditure  met  ?  8.  Why  was 
the  war  with  Persia  continued  ?  What  of  the  Athenian  armament  in  Egypt?  How  did 
the  expedition  turn  out?  9.  What  of  the  civil  dissensions  in  Greece?  What  battles 
were  fought?  10.  What  of  the  popularity  of  the  war?  What  desire  soon  began  to 
manifest  itself  in  Athens? 

11.   What  of  Cimon's  recall  from  exile?     12.  What  followed  the  return  of  Cimon? 
How  was  the  war  with  Persia  prosecuted  ?    The  death  of  Cimon  ?    Peace  with  Persia  ? 

18 


206  PERIOD  III.  —  493  B.  C.  TO  4M  B.  C. 

prise,  that  illustrious  commander  died,  and  a  peace  with  Persia  waa 
concluded  soon  after,  (449  B.  C.) 

13.  The  remains  of  Cimon  were  brought  home  to  Athens,  where 
a  splendid  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory.  A  new  opponent 
to  Pericles  was  speedily  put  forward  by  the  aristocratical  party,  in  the 
person  of  Thucydides,  the  brother-in-law  of  Cimon.  This  new  leader, 
who  was  a  man  of  high  birth,  possessed  respectable  abilities  as  a 
statesman,  but  was  in  that  respect  inferior  to  Pericles,  ,vho  a  few 
years  afterwards  succeeded  in  obtaining  his  rival's  removal  by  the 
ostracism. 

14.  The  oppressive  exactions  of  the  Athenians  had  for  some  time 
been  borne  with  impatience  by  their  dependencies,  and  one  of  these, 
the  large  island  of  Eubcea,  embraced  the  opportunity  afforded  by  a 
quarrel  in  which  Athens  had  engaged  with  Bceotia,  to  assert  its  own 
independence. 

15.  Pericles  immediately  led  an  army  against  the  levolted  islanders, 
but  he  had  scarcely  arrived  in  Eubcea,  when  he  received  intelligence 
that  the  Megarensians  had  likewise  risen  in  rebellion,  and  that  the 
Lacedaemonians  were  preparing  for  an  invasion  of  Attica. 

16.  His  energetic  and  politic  measures  soon,  however,  dispelled 
the  dangers  which  threatened  Athens.  Hastening  back  to  the  main- 
land, he  attacked  and  defeated  the  Megarensians,  and  on  the  approach 
of  the  Spartan  forces,  he  bribed  Cleandrides,  the  influential  adviser  of 
their  youthful  commander,  King  Plistoanax,  to  persuade  that  inexpe- 
rienced leader  to  withdraw  his  army  from  Attica.  Having  thus  got 
rid  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  Pericles  proceeded  a  second  time  to  Eubcea, 
which  he  ere  long  reduced  to  subjection. 

17.  When  he  afterwards  gave  in  his  account  of  the  expenses 
incurred  in  this  campaign,  he  charged  the  sum  employed  by  him  in 
bribing  the  counsellor  of  King  Plistoanax.  as  "ten  talents  —  about 
ten  thousand  dollars  —  laid  out  for  a  necessary  purpose;"  and  such 
was  the  confidence  which  the  people  had  in  his  integrity,  that  they 
passed  the  article  without  demanding  any  explanation.  All  parties 
being  by  this  time  weary  of  the  civil  war,  a  truce  of  thirty  years  was 
concluded  in  the  year  445  B.  C. 


CHAPTER   LXXXI. 

Power  of  Pericles.  —  A  thens  at  War  with  Corinth, 

1.  The  popularity,  and  consequently  the  power,  of  Pericles,  wero 
i.ow  at  their  height.  By  the  vigor  and  wisdom  of  his  policy,  he  had 
procured  for  his  countrymen  an  honorable  peace  and  increased  pros- 

13.  What  of  the  remains  of  Cimon?  Thucydides?  14.  What  of  the  island  of 
Euboea?  15.  What  did  Pericles  do?  The  Megarensians?  The  Lacedaemonians? 
16.  How  did  he  dispel  these  dangers?  17.  How  did  he  charge  in  his  accounts  the  sum 
employed  in  bribing  King  Plistoanax  ?     When  was  the  truce  of  thirty  years  concluded  J 

LXXXI.  -*  I.  What  of  the  power  of  Pericles  ?    What  had  he  procu*ed  for  his  country- 


ATHENS  AT  WAR  WITH  CORINTH  20? 

penty  ;  and  swayed  by  his  resistless  eloquence,  they  were  ready  t« 
sanction  whatever  measures  he  proposed.  The  aristocracy  also,  b) 
whom  he  had  hitherto  been  opposed,  became  anxious  to  conciliate  hii 
favor,  since  they  could  no  longer  impede  his  course. 

2.  Conscious  of  the  singular  strength  of  his  position,  supported  a* 
he  was  by  both  of  the  great  parties  in  the  state,  Pericles  began  to  as- 
sume greater  reserve  and  dignity,  and  to  be  less  prompt  to  gratify  th 
wishes  of  the  poorer  classes  than  formerly.  His  power,  in  fact,  was 
now  as  great,  although  certainly  not  on  so  firm  a  foundation,  as  that 
of  an  absolute  monarch. 

3.  After  a  number  of  years  of  general  peace,  a  dispute  between  the 
state  of  Corinth  and  its  dependency  the  island  of  Corcyra,  now  Corfu, 
gave  rise  to  a  war  which  again  disturbed  the  repose  of  all  the  Grecian 
states.  Coroyra  was  a  colony  of  Corinth,  but  having,  by  its  maritime 
skill  and  enterprise,  raised  itself  to  a  higher  pitch  of  opulence  than  its 
parent  city,  it  not  only  refused  to  acknowledge  Corinthian  suprem- 
acy, but  went  to  war  with  that  state  on  a  question  respecting  the  gov- 
ernment of  Epidamnus,  a  colony  which  the  Corcyraeans  had  planted 
on  the  coast  of  Illyria. 

4.  Corinth  applied  for  and  obtained  aid  from  several  of  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  states,  to  reduce  the  Corcyraeans  to  subjection ;  while  Corcyra, 
on  the  other  hand,  concluded  a  defensive  alliance  with  Athens,  which 
sent  a  fleet  to  assist  the  island  in  vindicating  its  independence.  By 
way  of  punishing  the  Athenians  for  intermeddling  in  the  quarrel,  the 
Corinthians  stirred  up  a  revolt  in  Potidaea,  a  town  of  Chalcidice,  near 
the  confines  of  Macedonia,  which  had  originally  been  a  colony  of  Co- 
rinth, but  was  at  this  time  a  tributary  of  Athens. 

5.  The  Athenians  immediately  despatched  a  fleet  and  army  for  the 
reduction  of  Potidaea,  and  the  Peloponnesians  were  equally  prompt  in 
sending  succors  to  the  city.  The  Corinthians,  meanwhile,  were 
actively  engaged  in  endeavoring  to  enlist  in  their  cause  those  states 
which  had  not  yet  taken  a  decided  part  in  the  dispute.  To  Lacedae- 
mon,  in  particular,  they  sent  ambassadors  to  complain  of  the  conduct 
of  the  Athenians,  which  they  characterized  as  a  violation  of  an  univer- 
sally recognized  law  of  Grecian  policy,  that  no  state  should  interfere 
between  another  and  its  dependencies. 

6.  The  efforts  of  the  Corinthians  were  successful,  and  almost  all 
the  Peloponnesian  states,  headed  by  Sparta,  together  with  many  of 
those  beyond  the  isthmus,  formed  themselves  into  a  confederacy  foi 
the  purpose  of  going  to  war  with  Athens.  Argos  and  Achaia  at  first 
remained  neutral.  Corcyra,  Acarnania,  some  of  the  cities  of  Thes- 
baly,  and  those  of  Plataea  and  Naupactus,  were  all  that  took  part  with 
the  Athenians. 

7.  Pericles  beheld  without  dismay  the  gathering  of  the  storm,  but 
his  countrymen  were  not  equally  undaunted.  They  perceived  thai 
they  were  about  to  be  called  upon  to  exchange  the  idle  and  luxurious 

men?  2.  What  did  he  soon  begin  to  assume?  3.  What  of  Corinth  and  Corcyra?  4. 
From  whence  did  Corinth  obtain  aid?  Corcyra?  What  of  the  revolt  in  PotidiEa?  5 
What  did  the  Athenians  do?  The  Lacedaemonians ?  The  Corinthians ?  What  message 
did  they  send  to  Sparta?  6.  Whatvof  the  confederacy  against  Athens?  What  stales 
remained  neutral  ?  What  took  part  with  Athens  ?    7.  What  of  Pericles  ?  The  Athenian* 


20£  PERIOD  III.-  493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C 

life  they  were  at  present  leading,  for  one  of  hardship  and  danger,  and 
they  began  to  murmur  against  their  political  leader  for  involving  them 
in  so  alarming  a  quarrel. 

8.  They  had  not  at  first  the  courage  to  impeach  Pericles  himself, 
but  vented  their  displeasure  against  his  friends  and  favorites.  Phidias, 
a  very  eminent  sculptor,  whom  the  great  statesman  had  appointed 
superintendent  of  public  buildings,  was  condemned  to  imprisonment 
on  a  frivolous  charge ;  and  the  philosopher  Anaxagoras,  the  preceptor 
and  friend  of  Pericles,  was  charged  with  disseminating  opinions  sul>- 
versive  of  the  national  religion,  and  banished  from  Athens. 

9.  Respecting  another  celebrated  individual,  who  at  this  time  fell 
under  persecution,  it  becomes  necessary  to  say  a  few  words.  Aspasia 
of  Miletus  was  a  woman  of  remarkable  beauty  and  brilliant  talents,  but 
having  led  a  dissolute  life,  she  became  a  reproach,  as  she  would  oth- 
erwise have  been  an  ornament,  to  her  sex.  This  remarkable  woman, 
having  come  to  reside  in  Athens,  attracted  the  notice  of  Pericles,  who 
was  so  much  fascinated  by  her  beauty,  wit,  and  eloquence,  that,  aftei 
separating  from  his  wife,  with  whom  he  had  lived  unhappily,  he  mar- 
ried Aspasia. 

10.  It  was  generally  believed,  that,  for  the  gratification  of  a  private 
grudge,  she  had  instigated  Pericles  to  quarrel  with  the  Peloponnesian 
states,  and  her  unpopularity  on  this  score  was  the  true  cause  of  her 
being  now  accused  before  the  assembly  of  the  people  of  impiety  and 
grossly  immoral  practices.  Pericles  conducted  her  defence  in  person, 
and  plead  for  her  with  so  much  earnestness  that  he  was  moved  even 
to  tears.  The  people,  either  finding  the  accusations  to  be  really 
unfounded,  or  unable  to  resist  the  eloquence  of  Pericles,  acquitted 
Aspasia. 

11.  His  enemies  next  directed  their  attack  against  himself.  They 
accused  him  of  embezzling  the  public  money ;  but  he  completely  re- 
butted the  charge,  and  proved  that  he  had  drawn  his  income  from  no 
other  source  than  his  private  estate  His  frugal  and  unostentatious 
style  of  living  must  have,  of  itself,  gone  far  to  convince  the  Athenians 
of  the  honesty  with  which  he  had  administered  the  public  affairs  ;  for 
while  he  was  filling  the  city  with  temples,  porticos,  and  other  mag- 
nificent works  of  art,  and  providing  many  costly  entertainments  for  the 
people,  his  own  domestic  establishment  was  regulated  with  such  strict 
attention  to  economy,  that  the  members  of  his  family  complained  of  a 
parsimony  which  formed  a  marked  contrast  to  the  splendor  in  which 
many  of  the  wealthy  Athenians  then  lived. 

12.  Confirmed  in  his  authority  by  this  triumphant  refutation  of  the 
slanders  of  his  enemies,  Pericles  adopted  the  wisest  measures  for  the 
public  defence  against  the  invasion  which  was  threatened  by  the  Pelo- 
ponnesians.  Unwilling  to  risk  a  battle  with  the  Spartans,  who  were 
esteemed  not  less  invincible  by  land  than  the  Athenians  were  by  sea, 
he  caused  the  inhabitants  of  Attica  to  transport  their  cattle  to  Eubcea 
and  the  neighboring    islands,  and  to  retire,  with  as  much  of  their 

B.  How  did  they  vent  their  displeasure?  What  of  Phidias?  Anaxagoras?  9.  What  of 
Aspasia?  10.  What  was  generally  believed  in  regard  to  her?  Who  conducted  her  de 
ence?  What  was  the  result  ?  11.  Of  what  was  Pericles  himself  accused?  How  did 
ae  rebut  thi  charge?    What  of  his  style  of  living?    12.  What  measures  did  Pericles 


THE  PELOPONNESIAN  WAR. 


209 


other  property  as  they  could  take  with  them,  within  the  walls  of 
Athens. 

13.  By  his  provident  care  the  city  was  stored  with  provisions  sum* 
cient  for  the  support  of  the  multitudes  which  now  crowded  it ;  hut 
greater  difficulty  was  found  in  furnishing  proper  accommodation  foi 
so  vast  a  population.  Many  found  lodgings  in  the  temples  and  other 
public  edifices,  or  in  the  turrets  on  the  city  walls,  and  great  numbers 
were  obliged  to  construct  for  themselves  temporary  abodes  in  the 
vacant  space  within  the  long  walls  extending  between  the  city  and  the 
port  of  Piraeus. 


CHAPTER   LXXXII. 

Commencement  of  the  Peloponnesian  War. —  Accusation  ami 
Death  of  Pericles. 


Plague  at  Athens 

i.    The  memorable  contest  of  twenty-seven  years'  duration,  called 

the  feloponnesian  war,"  now  commenced,  (431  B.  C.)    The  Spar- 

tai.  king,  Archidamus.  entered  Attica  at  the  head  of  a  large  army  of 

th<3  confederates,  and,  meeting  with  no  opposition,  proceeded  along 


now  adopt?    What  did  he  cause  the  inhabitants  to  do?     13.  What  provisions  did  ha 
supply  ?     How  was  the  population  accommodated? 
LXXXII.  —  1.  What  war  now  commenced  ?   Wha 

14 


What  did  Archidamus  do  ?   What  was  the 


J»  If)  PERIOD  III    -493  B.  C    TO  404  B.  C. 

its  eastern  coast,  burning  the  towns  and  laying  waste  the  country  in 
his  course.  When  the  Athenians  saw  the  enemy  ravaging  the  coun- 
try almost  up  to  their  gates,  it  required  all  the  authority  of  Pericles  to 
keep  them  within  their  fortifications. 

2.  While  the  confederates  were  wasting  Attica  with  fire  and  sword, 
the  Athenian  and  Corcyraean  fleets  were,  by  the  direction  of  Pericles, 
avenging  the  injury,  by  ravaging  the  almost  defenceless  coasts  of  the 
Peloponnesus.  This,  together  with  a  scarcity  of  provisions,  soon 
induced  Archidamus  to  lead  his  army  homewards.  He  retired  by  the 
western  coast  of  Attica,  continuing  the  work  of  devastation  as  he  went 
along. 

3.  Early  in  the  summer  of  the  following  year,  the  confederates 
returned  to  Attica,  which  they  were  again  permitted  to  ravage  at  their 
pleasure,  as  Pericles  still  adhered  to  his  cautious  policy  of  confining  his 
efforts  to  the  defence  of  the  capital. 

4.  But  an  enemy  far  more  terrible  than  the  Peloponnesians  attacked 
the  unfortunate  Athenians.  A  pestilence,  supposed  to  have  originated 
in  Ethiopia,  and  which  had  gradually  spread  over  Egypt  and  the  west- 
ern parts  of  Asia,  broke  out  in  the  town  of  Piraeus,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  at  first  supposed  their  wells  to  have  been  poisoned.  The  dis- 
ease rapidly  advanced  into  Athens,  where  it  carried  off  a  great  number 
of  persons. 

5.  It  is  described  as  having  been  a  species  of  infectious  fever, 
accompanied  with  many  painful  symptoms,  and  followed,  in  those  who 
survived  the  first  stages  of  the  disease,  by  ulcerations  of  the  bowels 
and  limbs.  Historians  mention,  as  a  proof  of  the  singular  virulence 
of  this  pestilence,  that  the  birds  of  prey  refused  to  touch  the  unburied 
bodies  of  its  victims,  and  that  all  the  dogs  which  fed  upon  the  poison- 
ous remains  perished.  The  mortality  was  dreadful,  and  was,  of  course, 
greatly  increased  by  the  overcrowded  state  of  the  city. 

6.  The  prayers  of  the  devout,  and  the  skill  of  the  physicians,  were 
found  equally  unavailing  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  disease,  and  the 
miserable  Athenians,  reduced  to  despair,  believed  themselves  to  be 
forgotten  or  hated  by  their  gods.  The  sick  were,  in  many  cases,  left 
unattended,  and  the  bodies  of  the  dead  allowed  to  lie  unburied,  while 
those  whom  the  plague  had  not  yet  reached,  openly  set  at  defiance 
all  laws,  human  and  divine,  and  rushed  into  every  excess  of  criminal 
indulgence. 

7.  Pericles  was  in  the  mean  time  engaged,  with  a  fleet  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  ships,  in  wasting  with  fire  and  sword  the  shores  of  the 
Peloponnesus.  At  his  return  to  Athens,  finding  that  the  enemy  had 
hastily  retired  from  Attica  through  fear  of  the  contagion  of  the  plague, 
he  despatched  the  fleet  to  the  coast  of  Chalcidice,  to  assist  the  Athe- 
nian land  forces,  who  were  Still  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Potidaea  —  an 
unfortunate  measure,  productive  of  no  other  result  than  the  communi- 

authority  of  Pericles  required  to  do?  2.  How  did  Pericles  revenue  tin  injuries  of  the 
Lacedaemonians?  How  did  Archidamus  retire  homewards?  3.  What  happened  in  the 
next  year?  4.  What  of  the  pestilence  which  broke  out  in  Attica?  5.  How  is  it  de- 
scribed "t     What  proofs  of  its  virulence  are  recorded  ? 

6.  Could  nothing  stop  the  progress  of  the  disease?  What  of  the  bodies  of  the  dead  ? 
What  of  those  who  escaped  the  plague  ?    7  What  of  Pericles  in  the  mean  time  ?     Wlvu 


DEATH  OF  PERICLES.  -  21.1 

cation  o/  the  pestilence  to  the  besieging  army,  by  which  the  majority 
of  the  troops  were  speedily  swept  away. 

3.  Maddened  by  their  sufferings,  the  Athenians  now  became  loud 
in  their  murmurs  against  Pericles,  whom  they  accused  of  having 
brought  upon  them  at  least  a  portion  of  their  calamities,  oy  involving 
them  in  the  Peloponnesian  war.  An  assembly  of  the  people  was 
held,  in  which  Pericles  entered  upon  a  justification  of  his  conduct,  and 
exhorted  them  to  courage  and  perseverance  in  defence  of  their  inde- 
pendence. 

9.  The  hardships  to  which  they  had  been  exposed  by  the  war  were, 
he  observed,  only  such  as  he  had  in  former  addresses  prepared  them 
to  expect,  and  as  to  the  pestilence,  it  was  a  calamity  which  no  human 
prudence  could  either  have  foreseen  or  averted.  He  reminded  them 
that  they  still  possessed  a  floet  which  that  of  no  potentate  on  earth  could 
equal  or  cope  wilh,  and  that,  after  the  present  evil  should  have  passed 
away,  their  navy  might  yet  enable  them  to  acquire  universal  empire. 

10.  "  What  we  suffer  from  the  gods,"  continued  he,  "  we  should 
bear  with  patience  ;  what  from  our  enemies,  with  manly  firmness ;  and 
such  were  the  maxims  of  our  forefathers.  From  unshaken  fortitude 
in  misfortune  has  arisen  the  present  power  of  this  commonwealth,  to- 
gether with  that  glory,  which,  if  our  empire,  according  to  the  lot  of 
all  earthly  things,  decay,  shall  still  survive  to  all  posterity." 

11.  The  eloquent  harangue  of  Pericles  diminished,  but  did  not 
remove,  the  alarm  and  irritation  of  the  Athenians,  and  they  not  only 
dismissed  him  from  all  his  offices,  but  imposed  upon  him  a  heavy  fine. 
Meanwhile,  domestic  afflictions  were  combining  with  political  anxie- 
ties and  mortifications  to  oppress  the  mind  of  this  eminent  man,  for  the 
members  of  his  family  were  one  by  one  perishing  by  the  plague. 

12.  Still,  however,  he  bore  up  with  a  fortitude  which  was  wit- 
nessed with  admiration  by  all  around  him ;  but,  at  the  funeral  of  the 
last  of  his  children,  his  firmness  at  length  gave  way  ;  and  while  he 
was,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  placing  a  garland  of 
flowers  on  the  head  of  the  corpse,  he  burst  into  loud  lamentations,  and 
shed  a  torrent  of  tears.  It  was  not  long  before  his  mutable  country- 
men repented  of  their  harshness  towards  him,  and  reinvested  him  with 
his  civil  and  military  authority.  He  soon  after  followed  his  children 
to  the  grave,  falling,  like  them,  a  victim  to  the  prevailing  pestilence. 
(429  B.  C.) 

13.  The  concurrent  testimony  of  the  ancient  writers  assigns  to 
Pericles  the  first  place  among  Grecian  statesmen  for  wisdom  and  elo- 
quence. Though  ambitious  of  power,  he  was  temperate  in  its  exer- 
cise ;  and  it  is  creditable  to  his  memory,  that,  in  an  age  and  country  so 
little  scrupulous  in  the  shedding  of  blood,  his  long  administration  was 
as  merciful  and  mild  as  it  was  vigorous  and  effective.  When  con- 
strained to  make  war,  the  constant  study  of  this  eminent  statesman 

did  he  do  after  tiis  return  to  Athens?  Why  was  this  measure  unfortunate?  8.  What 
accusation  was  brought  against  Pericles?  To  what  did  he  exhort  them  ?  9.  What  did 
he  say  of  the  hardships  of  the  war?  Of  the  pestilence?  Of  what  did  he  remind  them? 
10.  How  did  he  continue  in  his  speech?  11.  What  was  the  effect  of  this  speech? 
How  did  they  punish  him?  What  of  his  domestic  afflictions?  12.  His  fortitude? 
What  of  his  being  reinvested  with  authority?  His  death?  13.  His  character1*  J4 
What  anecdote  is  related  of  him? 


212 


FERICIj  III.  — 493  B.  C.  TO 


B.C. 


was  how  to  overcome  his  enemies  with  the  least  possible  destruction 
of  life,  as  well  on  their  side  as  on  his  own. 

14.  It  is  related,  that,  when  he  was  lying  at  the  point  of  death,  and 
while  those  who  surrounded  him  were  recounting  his  great  actions,  he 
suddenly  interrupted  them  by  expressing  his  surprise  that  they  should 
bestow  so  much  praise  on  achievements  in  which  he  had  been  rivalled 
*y  many  others,  while  they  omitted  to  mention  what  was  his  highest 
and  peculiar  honor,  namely,  that  no  act  of  his  had  ever  caused  any 
A  thcnian  to  put  on  mourning. 


CHAPTER   LXXXIII. 

Cleon.  —  Nicias.  —  Alcibiades. 


Alcibiades. 


1  In  tit  the  death  of  Pericles,  the  war  was  continued  without 
intetitiption  for  seven  years  longer,  but  with  no  decisive  advantage  to 
either  side.  During  this  period  the  Athenian  councils  were  chiefly 
directed  by  a  coarse-minded  and  unprincipled  demagogue,  named 
Cleon,  who  was  at  last  killed  in  battle  under  the  walls  of  Amphipolis, 
a  Macedonian  city,  of  which  the  possession  was  disputed  by  the  Athe- 
nians and  Lacedaemonians. 

LXXXIII  —1.  What  of  the  war  after  the  death  of  Pericles?     What  of  Cleon?    His 


CLEON.  -  NICIAS.  —  ALCIBIADES. 


213 


2  Cleon  was  succeeded  in  the  direction  of  public  affairs  by  Nicias, 
the  leader  of  the  aristocratical  party,  a  man  of  a  good  but  unenterpris- 
ing character,  and  a  military  officer  of  moderate  abilities.  Under  his 
auspices  a  treaty  of  peace  for  fifty  years,  commonly  known  by  the 
name  of  the  "  peace  of  Nicias,"  was  concluded  in  the  tenth  year  of 
the  war,  (421  B.  C.) 

3.  It.  was  not  long-,  however,  till  the  contest  was  resumed.  Of- 
fended that  its  allies  had  given  up  a  contest  undertaken  for  the  asser- 
tion of  its  alleged  rights,  Corinth  refused  to  be  a  party  to  the  treaty  of 
peace,  and  entered  into  a  new  quadruple  alliance  with  Argos,  Elis, 
and  Mantinaea,  a  city  of  Arcadia ;  the  ostensible  object  of  which  ^oil- 
federation  was  the  defence  of  the  Peloponnesian  states  again?  the 
aggressions  of  Athens  and  Sparta. 


Alabiades  and  the  Teamster. 


1     This  end  seemed  not  difficult  of  attainment,  as  fresh  dis-trusts* 
had  arisen  between  the  two  last  mentioned  republics,  on  account  oJ 


jc:itli'     2.  Who  was  Nicias?     What  of  the  peace  concluded  by  him?    3    Why  was  the 


214 


PERIOD  III.— 493  B.  C.  TO  404   B.  C. 


the  reluctance  felt  and  manifested  by  both  to  give  up  certain  places 
which  they  had  bound  themselves  by  treaty  mutually  to  surrender. 

5.  The  jealousies  which  this  point  excited  were  fanned  into  a  violent 
flame  by  the  artful  measures  of  Alcibiades,  a  young  Athenian,  who 
now  began  to  rise  into  political  power,  and  whose  genius  and  charac- 
ter subsequently  exercised  a  strong  influence  upon  the  affairs  of  Athens. 

6.  Alcibiades  was  the  son  of  Clinias,  an  Athenian  of  high  rank. 
Endowed  with  uncommon  beauty  of  person,  and  talents  of  the  very 
highest  order,  he  was,  unfortunately,  deficient  in  that  unbending 
integrity,  which  is  an  essential  element  of  every  character  truly  great, 
and  his  violent  passions  sometimes  impelled  him  to  act  in  a  manner 
which  has  brought  disgrace  on  his  memory. 

7.  Even  in  boyhood  he  exhibited  remarkable  proofs  of  the  extent 
of  his  talents  and  the  energy  of  his  character.  On  one  occasion,  when 
playing  with  some  boys  of  his  own  age  in  the  streets  of  Athens,  he 
saw  a  loaded  wagon  approach  the  place  where  he  was ;  not  wishing 
to  be  interrupted  at  that  moment,  he  called  to  the  teamster  to  stop. 
On  his  refusal,  he  threw  himself  in  front  of  the  horses,  calling  to  the 
carter,  "  Drive  over  me  if  you  dare  !"  The  man  stopped  his  horses, 
and  Alcibiades,  when  he  had  finished  his  game,  allowed  him  to  pro- 
ceed. He  spent  his  youth  in  a  very  dissolute  manner  among  the  gay 
companions  whom  his  high  birth,  his  showy  and  prepossessing  man 
ners,  and  his  profuse  liberality,  drew  around  him. 


Alcibiades  and  Socrates. 

8.   Flattered  by  the  homage  which  was  paid  by  the  one  sey  to  his 
wit,  and  by  the  other  to  his  beauty,  —  for  we  are  told  that  the  Athe- 

sonlest  resumed  ?    4.   Why  did  this  seem  not  difficult  of  attainment  ?    5.   By  whom 
were  these  jealousies  fanned  into  a  flame?     6.    Who  was  Alcibiades?     His  person? 
Oharacter  ? 
f    What  of  his  boyhood?    What  anecdote  is  related  of  him ?    His  youth?    8.  Wha» 


ALCIBIADES.  215 

nian  ladies  vied  with  each  other  in  their  efforts  to  engage  his  affee 
tions,  —  he  would,  probahly,  have  been  altogether  spoiled,  had  it  not 
been  his  singular  good  fortune  to  attract,  in  early  life,  the  notice  and 
friendship  of  Socrates,  the  most  illustrious  of  all  the  philosophers  of 
antiquity. 

9.  This  good  man  was  unwilling  that  a  youth  possessed  of  so  many 
noble  qualities  should  be  lost  to  virtue,  and  he  sedulously  endeavored, 
by  his  exhortations  and  reproofs,  to  wean  Alcibiades  from  his  dissi- 
pated habits,  and  withdraw  him  from  the  society  of  his  profligate  com- 
panions. To  a  certain  extent  the  sage  was  successful  ;  but  although 
Alcibiades  came  to  love  and  respect  his  kind  monitor,  and  felt  the  full 
force  of  his  excellent  precepts,  yet  the  impetuosity  and  recklessness 
of  his  character,  the  strength  of  his  passions,  and  the  number  and 
variety  of  the  allurements  to  which  he  was  exposed,  too  often  tri- 
umphed over  his  virtuous  resolutions. 

10.  While  still  very  young,  Alcibiades  served  in  the  Athenian 
army  at  the  siege  of  Potidaea.  He  was  accompanied  by  Socrates, 
who,  in  one  of  the  battles,  saved  his  young  friend's  life,  by  coming  to 
his  assistance  when  he  was  wounded  and  about  to  be  slain.  This 
important  service  Alcibiades  afterwards  repaid  by  saving  the  life  of 
Socrates  in  the  flight  after  the  battle  of  Delium,  in  which  tlie  Athe- 
jians  were  defeated  by  the  Boeotians,  (424  B.  C.) 

11.  When  Alcibiades  began  to  take  a  part  in  public  affairs,  which 
He  did  at  an  unusually  early  age,  his  popular  manners,  his  unrivalled 
address,  and  his  polished  and  persuasive  eloquence,  soon  obtained  for 
him  a  large  share  of  influence.  At  first  he  was  favorably  disposed 
towards  Lacedaemon,  with  which  state  his  family  had  anciently  been 
connected  by  bonds  of  the  strictest  amity. 

12.  The  Spartans,  however,  disliked  his  dissipated  and  luxurious 
habits,  and  still  retained  a  resentful  remembrance  of  a  solemn  renun- 
ciation which  his  great-grandfather  had  made  of  their  friendship  when 
they  unwarrantably  interfered  with  the  Athenian  affairs  in  the  times 
of  the  Pisistratidae.  On  these  accounts,  the  Spartans  rejected  the 
advances  of  the  young  Athenian  with  disdain,  and  transacted  all  their 
affairs  in  Athens  through  the  medium  of  his  rival,  Nicias. 

13.  Offended  at  this  treatment,  Alcibiades  became  as  inimical  to  the 
Lacedaemonians  as  he  had  at  first  been  friendly,  and  he  soon  convinced 
them  that  he  was  not  one  to  be  contemned  or  provoked  with  impunity 
When,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  mutual  distrusts  arose  between 
Sparta  and  Athens  respecting  the  fulfilment  of  certain  stipulations 
contained  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  and  Lacedaemonian  ambassadors 
arrived  in  Athens  fully  empowered  to  make  an  amicable  arrangement, 
Alcibiades,  fearing  that  a  friendly  intercourse  was  about  to  be 
renewed  between  the  two  states,  contrived  to  prevent  a  result  so  con- 
trary to  his  interests  and  wishes. 

prevented  him  from  bein?  spoiled  by  flattery?  9.  What  did  Socrates  endeavor  to  do  ? 
Was  he  successful  ?  10.  What  happened  at  the  siege  of  Potidrea?  How  did  Alcibiadns 
repay  this  service  ?  11.  What  influence  did  he  obtain  ?  What  of  his  disposition  towards 
Sparta  ? 

12.  What  of  the  feelings  of  the  Spartans  towards  him?  13.  Of  wha*  did  re  soon  con 
rince  them?    What  of  the  mutual  distrusts  between  Athens  and  Sparta?     What  did 


216  PERIOD  III.— 493  B.  C   TO  404  B.  C. 

14  The  ambassadors  having  announced  that  they  possessed  full 
powers  to  treat  on  all  disputed  points,  he  privately  advised  them  to 
retract  this  declaration,  as  it  would  be  taken  advantage  of  by  the  pop- 
ular assembly  to  extort  conditions  unfavorable  to  Lacedamion,  and 
he  promised  that,  if  they  followed  his  advice,  he  would  support,  in- 
stead of  opposing  their  demands. 

15.  The  ambassadors  were  weak  enough  to  do  as  he  recommended, 
and  they  had  no  sooner  stated  that  their  powers  were  limited,  than,  to 
their  unspeakable  consternation,  their  pretended  friend  attacked  them 
in  a  furious  manner,  charging  them  with  dishonesty  and  falsehood, 
while  he  artfully  availed  himself  of  the  incident  to  animate  the 
assembly  against  Sparta. 

16.  The  Athenians  were  filled  with  indignation  at  what  had 
occurred,  and  were  on  the  point  of  dissolving  the  alliance  with  Lace- 
da;mon,  when  the  shock  of  an  earthquake  caused  a  sudden  adjourn 
ment  of  the  assembly  till  the  following  day. 

17.  When  the  people  reassembled,  Nicias,  perceiving  that  they 
were  now  willing  to  listen  to  more  moderate  counsels,  proposed  that, 
before  adopting  any  measure  hostile  to  Lacedaemon,  they  should  send 
an  embassy  thither  to  endeavor  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation.  This 
was  agreed  to  ;  but,  at  the  artful  suggestion  of  Alcibiades,  the  ambas- 
sadors were  directed  to  insist  on  such  preliminary  conditions  as  he 
well  knew  the  Spartans  would  never  grant. 

18.  The  result  justified  his  anticipations  ;  the  ambassadors  returned 
without  having  been  able  to  effect  anything,  and  the  Athenians  imme- 
diately formed  an  offensive  and  defensive  league  with  the  recently 
formed  confederacy,  or  quadruple  alliance,  of  which  Argos  was  the 
head.  On  the  accession  of  Athens  to  this  party,  Corinth  immediately 
seceded  from  it,  in  order  to  renew  the  connection  formerly  held  with 
Ijacedaemon. 

19.  The  Peloponnesian  war  was  then  renewed,  (419  B.  C.)  — 
languidly  at  first,  but  ere  long  with  increased  vigor  and  ferocity. 
Many  bloody  battles  were  fought,  numberless  deeds  of  cruelty  were 
committed,  and  the  Grecian  states  were  involved  for  many  years  in 
confusion  and  suffering,  by  a  war  undertaken  almost  without  a  cause, 
and  persevered  in  without  one  reasonable  object. 


CHAPTER   LXXXIV. 

Flight  of  Alcibiades. 

L    Alcibiades  had   now  acquired  the  undisputed  lead   in  public 
affairs,  and,  elated  with  his  success,  he  set  no  bounds  to  his  taste  for 

Alcibiades  contrive  to  do?  14.  What  did  he  advise  the  ambassadors  to  do?  15.  What 
was  the  result?  16.  What  of  the  feelings  of  the  Athenians  ?  17.  What  was  proposed 
by  Nicias  >n  the  following  day?  Was  this  agreed  to?  What  was  suggested  by  Alcibi- 
ades? 13.  What  was  the  result?  What  league  did  the  Athenians  form?  What  did 
Corinth  irr.mediately  do?  19.  The  Peloponnesian  war? 
LXXXIV.  — 1.  What  of  the  luxury  of  Alcibiades?    Hisdress?    2.  How  was  he  regarded 


PLIGHT  OF  ALCIBIADES. 


217 


uxury  and  magnificence.  In  imitation  of  the  efllminacy  of  orients1 
manners,  he  wore  a  robe  of  purple  with  a  flowing  train,  and  when  he 
personally  took  a  part  in  the  wars,  he  carried  a  shield  of  gold,  on 
which  was  represented  a  Cupid  armed  with  a  thunderbolt. 

2.  The  wiser  portion  of  the  community  observed  with  regret  his 
excessive  love  of  display,  and  his  unbridled  arrogance  and  licentious- 
ness ;  but  the  giddy  multitude  admired  his  splendid  talents  and  lofty 
bearing,  while  they  were  confirmed  in  their  favorable  disposition  to 
wards  him  by  the  feasts,  games,  and  spectacles  to  which  he  treated 
them. 

3.  Not  contented  with  all  the  power  and  distinction  he  had  gained, 
Alcibiades  soon  became  desirous  of  adding  to  his  fame  by  the  achieve- 
ment of  foreign  conquest.  Knowing  that  the  Athenians  had  long 
wished  to  extend  their  authority  over  Sicily,  he  proposed  an  expedi- 


r/K&fe 


Syracuse,  in  Sicily. 

turn  for  the  subjugation  ot  that  large  and  important  island.  They 
entered  warmly  into  his  views,  and  notwithstanding  the  earnest  dis- 
suasion of  Nicias,  fitted  out  a  large  fleet,  collected  a  strong  military 
force,  and  appointed  Alcibiades,  Nicias,  and  another  officer  named 
Lamachus,  as  joint  commanders  of  the  Sicilian  expedition. 

4.  The  armament  was  nearly  ready  to  set  sail,  when  an  incident 
occurred,  of  little  importance  in  itself,  but  productive  ultimately  of 
very  serious  consequences.  One  night  almost  all  the  statues  of  the 
god  Mercury,  which  were  very  numerous  in  Athens,  were  mutilated 
or  thrown  down  by  some  unknown  individuals,  and  the  enemies  of 
Alcibiades  took  advantage  of  the  circumstance  to  accuse  him,  and 
some  of  his  dissolute  companions,  of  having  committed  the  sacrilegious 
Qui  rage  in  a  drunken  frolic. 

by  the  wise  ?    By  the  multitude  ?    3.    Wlwt  expedition  did  Alcibiades  propose?     What 
9<  tl:«  force  fitted  qut  ?    4.   What  incident  occurred  at  this  time  ?     Who  was  accused  of 
19 


'2\8  PERIOD  III.— 493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 

5.  The  people,  shocked  at  the  impiety  of  the  act,  and  believing  the 
accusers  of  Alcibiades  the  more  readily  on  account  of  his  openly  irreg- 
ular habits,  made  immediate  preparations  for  bringing  him  to  trial 
Finding  the  army,  however,  determined  to  support  its  general,  they 
were  afraid  to  proceed,  and  directed  him  to  set  sail  for  Sicily,  promis 
ing  to  postpone  the  trial  till  his  return.  He  insisted  on  being  tried 
immediately,  but  this  was  obstinately  refused. 

6.  As  soon  as  he  had  put  to  sea,  his  enemies  renewed  their  out- 
cries, and  redoubled  tfyeir  activity.  They  alarmed  the  public  mind 
by  circulating  rumors  of  plots  formed  by  Alcibiades  for  the  subversion 
of  the  constitution,  and  in  proof  they  brought  forward  some  of  his 
slaves,  who  asserted  that  he  and  his  wild  companions  had,  on  one  occa- 
sion, impiously  profaned  the  Eleusinian  mysteries,  by  mimicking  the 
secret  rites  of  the  worship  of  Ceres. 

7.  The  popular  mind  was  gradually  wrought  up  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  excitement.  Many  of  the  friends  of  Alcibiades  were  cruelly 
put  to  death,  and  he  himself  was  recalled  to  stand  his  trial.  When 
i lie  summons  reached  him,  the  army  had  newly  arrived  in  Sicily;  but 
instead  of  obeying  the  call,  he  fled  to  Argos,  and  afterwards  to  Sparta, 
in  which  latter  city,  notwithstanding  the  former  hostility  between 
them,  he  was  received  with  honorable  welcome,  and  his  offered  ser- 
vices gladly  accepted. 

8.  When  in  Sparta,  he  exhibited  a  remarkable  proof  of  self-com- 
mand. Aware  of  the  simple  and  self-denying  mode  in  which  the 
Lacedaemonians  lived,  he  laid  aside  his  effeminate  manners  and  rich 
attire,  and  affected  so  much  gravity  of  deportment,  and  plainness  of 
dress,  that  the  Spartans  could  hardly  believe  him  to  be  the  once 
sprightly  and  voluptuous  Alcibiades.  He  shaved  his  head,  restricted 
his  diet  to  the  coarse  bread  and  disagreeable  black  broth  of  the  public 
tables,  and  made  himself  conspicuous  for  his  austerity,  even  among 
the  rigid  countrymen  of  Lycurgus.  His  speech  also  became  a  mode 
of  that  laconic  style  for  which  the  country  was  remarkable. 

9.  Meanwhile,  in  Athens,  sentence  of  death  was  passed  upon  him, 
his  goods  were  confiscated,  and  the  priests  were  ordered  to  imprecate 
curses  upon  his  head.  But  the  Athenians  by-and-by  found  reason  to 
regret  that  they  had  resorted  to  such  harsh  measures  against  their 
ablest  chief.  Guided  by  the  counsels  of  Alcibiades,  the  Spartans 
adopted  measures  which  not  only  produced  the  disastrous  failure  of 
the  Sicilian  expedition,  but  caused  also  the  revolt  of  several  of  the 
Athenian  dependencies  in  Asia  Minor,  and  the  islands  of  the  JEgeau. 

10.  Alcibiades  himself  passed  over  into  Ionia  to  encourage  its  cities 
to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Athens,  and  he  likewise,  through  Tissapher- 
nes,  the  satrap  of  Lydia,  negotiated  an  alliance  between  Persia  and 
Lacedaemon. 

11.  In  his  absence,  a  strong  party  was  formed  against  him  among 

having  committed  the  outrage?  5.  What  was  immediately  done  by  the  people?  Why 
was  the  trial  postponed?  6.  What  took  place  when  he  had  put  to  sea?  What  charge 
was  brought  against  him  by  his  slaves?  7.  What  was  the  effect  of  these  charges? 
Where  did  Alcibiades  fly?  8.  What  of  his  conduct  in  Sparta?  9.  What  in  the  mean- 
while was  done  at  Athene?  What  had  the  Athenians  soon  reason  to  reeret?  Why? 
10.  What  did  Alcibiades  do  in  the  cities  of  Ionia?  What  did  he  effect  by  means  of 
rissaphernes?     11.  What  happened  during  his  absence?    To  what  country  did  he  tiy  1 


DISCORD  AT  ATHENS.  2J9 

the  Spartan  nobility,  headed  by  King  Agis,  and  orders  were  secretly 
transmitted  to  the  Lacedaemonian  general  in  Ionia,  to  put  him  to  death 
But,  having  received  a  hint  of  what  was  in  agitation,  he  fled  from  the 
camp,  and  sought  refuge  in  Lydia,  where  his  lively  wit  and  engaging 
manners  soon  rendered  him  a  favorite  with  Tissaphernes. 


CHAPTER    LXXXV. 

Discord  at  Athens.  —  Recall  of  Alcibiades.  —  His  second  Dis 
grace.  —  His  Death. 

1.  While  these  events  were  taking  place,  Athens,  as  was  usual 
in  the  absence  of  a  vigorous  head,  was  torn  by  internal  discords,  and, 
in  the  twentieth  year  of  the  war,  (411  B.  C.,)  the  aristocratical  faction 
succeeded  in  overthrowing  the  democratical  government,  and  establish- 
ing a  council  of  four  hundred  individuals  to  administer  the  affairs  of 
the  state,  with  the  power  of  convoking  an  assembly  of  five  thousand 
of  the  principal  citizens  for  advice  and  assistance  in  any  emergency. 

2.  These  four  hundred  tyrants,  as  they  were  popularly  called,  were 
no  sooner  invested  with  authority,  than  they  annihilated  every  remain- 
ing portion  of  the  free  institutions  of  Athens.  They  behaved  with 
the  greatest  insolence  and  severity  towards  the  people,  and  endeavored 
to  confirm  and  perpetuate  their  usurped  power,  by  raising  a  body  of 
mercenary  troops  in  the  islands  of  the  ^Egean,  for  the  purpose  of  over- 
awing and  enslaving  their  fellow-citizens. 

3.  The  Athenian  army  was  at  this  period  in  the  island  of  Samos, 
whither  it  had  retired  after  an  expedition  against  the  revolted  cities  of 
Asia  Minor.  When  intelligence  arrived  of  the  revolution  in  Athens, 
and  the  tyrannical  proceedings  of  the  oligarchical  faction,  the  soldiers 
indignantly  refused  to  obey  the  new  government,  and  sent  an  invita- 
tion to  Alcibiades  to  return  among  them,  and  assist  in  reestablishing 
the  democratical  constitution. 

4.  He  obeyed  the  call  ,  and  as  soon  as  he  arrived  in  Samos,  the 
Troops  elected  him  their  general.  He  then  sent  a  message  to  Athens, 
commanding  the  four  hundred  tyrants  to  divest  themselves  immedi- 
ately of  their  unconstitutional  authority,  if  they  wished  to  avoid  depo- 
sition and  death  at  his  hands. 

5.  This  message  reached  Athens  at  the  time  of  the  greatest  con- 
fusion and  alarm.  The  four  hundred  tyrants  had  quarrelled  among 
themselves,  and  were  about  to  appeal  to  the  sword  ;  the  island  of 
Eubcea,  from  which  Athens  had  for  some  time  been  principally  sup- 
plied with  provisions,  had  revolted,  and  the  fleet  which  had  been 
sent  to  reduce  it  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Lacedaemonians,  so  thai 

LXXXV.  —  1.  What  was  now  taking  place  at  Athens?  What  of  the  council  of  four 
hundred?  2.  Whtt  of  the  behavior  of  the  council  ?  3.  Where  was  the  Athenian  army 
at  this  period?  What  did  they  refuse  to  do?  What  invitation  did  they  send  10 
Alcibiades?  4.  Did  he  accept?  What  message  did  he  send  to  Athens?  5  In  what 
•late  was  Athens  ?     What  had  the  four  hundred  tyrants  done  ?    The  island  of  Enbam  ? 


220 


PERIOD  III.— 493  B.  C.  TO  403   B.  C. 


the  coast  of  Attica,  and  the  port  of  Athens  itself,  were  now  without 
defence. 

6.  In  these  distressing  circumstances,  the  people,  roused  to  desper- 
ation, lose  upon  their  oppressors,  overturned  the  government  of  the 
four  hundred,  after  an  existence  of  only  a  few  months,  and  reestab- 
lished their  ancient  institutions.  Alcihiades  was  now  recalled  ;  but 
before  revisiting  Athens,  he  was  desirous  of  performing  some  brilliant 
military  exploit,  which  might  obliterate  the  recollection  of  his  late 
connection  with  the  Spartans,  and  give  his  return  an  air  of  triumph. 


Return  of  Alcibiades. 


7.  He  accordingly  joined  the  Athenian  fleet,  then  stationed  at  the 
entrance  of  the  Hellespont,  and  soon  obtained  several  important  vic- 
tories over  the  Lacedaemonians,  both  by  sea  and  land.  He  then 
returned  to  Athens,  where  he  was  received  with  transports  of  joy. 
Chaplets  of  flowers  were  showered  upon  his  head,  and  amidst  the 
most  enthusiastic  acclamations  he  proceeded  to  the  place  of  assembly, 
where  he  addressed  the  people  in  a  speech  of  such  eloquence  and 
power,  that,  at  its  conclusion,  a  crown  of  gold  was  placed  upon  his 
brows,  and  he  was  invested  with  the  supreme  command  of  the  Athe- 
nian forces,  both  naval  and  military.  His  forfeited  property  was 
restored,  and  the  priests  were  directed  to  revoke  the  curses  which  had 
formerly  been  pronounced  upon  him. 

8.  This  popularity  of  Alcibiades  was  not  of  long  continuance. 
Many  of  the  dependencies  of  x\.thens  being  in  a  state  of  insurrection, 
he  assumed  the  command  of  an  armament  intended  for  their  reduction. 


I"*ie  Athenian  fleet?    6.  What  did  the  people  do  in  these  circumstances?     The  recall 
if  Alcihiades  ?     What  did  he  wish  to  do  before  his  return  ?    7.     What  did  he  therefore 
do  I     What  of  his  return  to  Athens  ? 
8    What  prevented  the  popularity  of  Alcihiades  from  cor.  inuing?     U    01  wkat  was 


DEATH  OF  ALCIBIADES.  221 

But  circumstances  arose  which  obliged  him  to  leave  the  fleet  for  a 
short  time  in  charge  of  one  of  his  officers,  named  Antiochus,  who,  in 
despite  of  express  orders  to  the  contrary,  gave  battle  to  the  Lacedae- 
monians during  the  absence  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and  was  de« 
feated. 

y.  When  intelligence  of  this  action  reached  Athens,  a  violent  clamoi 
was  raised  against  Alcibiades ;  he  was  accused  of  having  neglected 
his  duty,  and  received  a  second  dismissal  from  all  his  offices.  On 
hearing  of  this,  he  quitted  the  fleet,  and,  retiring  to  a  fortress  he  had 
built  in  the  Chersonesus  of  Thrace,  he  collected  around  him  a  band 
of  military  adventurers,  with  whose  assistance  he  carried  on  a  preda- 
tory warfare  against  the  neighboring  Thracian  tribes.  The  fallen 
pupil  of  Socrates  became,  in  short,  a  brigand  and  a  pirate. 

10.  Alcibiades  did  not  long  survive  his  second  disgrace  with  his 
countrymen.  Finding  his  Thracian  residence  insecure,  on  account  of 
the  increasing  power  of  his  Lacedemonian  enemies,  he  crossed  the 
Hellespont  and  settled  in  Bithynia,  a  country  on  the  Asiatic  side  of 
the  Propontis.  Being  there  attacked  and  plundered  by  the  Thracians, 
he  proceeded  into  Phrygia,  and  placed  himself  under  the  protection 
of  Pharnabasus,  the  Persian  satrap  of  that  province. 

11.  But  even  thither  the  unfortunate  chief  was  followed  by  the 
unrelenting  hatred  of  the  Lacedaemonians,  who  privately  urged  Phar- 
nabasus to  put  him  to  death.  The  perfidious  Persian,  desirous  of 
gaining  their  favor,  complied  with  their  wishes,  and  appointed  two  of 
his  own  relations  to  murder  a  man  whom  he  had  promised  to  protect. 

12.  Alcibiades  was  living  at  this  time  in  a  small  country  village, 
when,  one  night,  the  assassins  surrounded  his  house  and  set  it  on  fire. 
Being  awakened  by  the  burning,  he  immediately  guessed  the  truth, 
and,  hastily  wrapping  his  robe  round  his  left  hand,  and  grasping  his 
dagger  in  his  right,  he  sprang  through  the  flames,  and  reached  the 
open  air  in  safety. 

13.  So  great  was  his  fame  for  personal  strength  and  valor,  that 
none  of  his  assailants  durst  withstand  his  attack,  or  endeavor  to  oppose 
his  passage,  but,  retiring  to  a  distance,  they  slew  him  with  a  shower 
of  arrows.  Timandra,  who  had  been  the  companion  of  Alcibiades  in 
all  his  latter  wanderings,  was  left  alone  to  dress  his  dead  body  and  per- 
form his  funeral  obsequies.  Thus  perished,  about  the  fortieth  yeai 
of  his  age,  (403  B.  C.,)  one  of  the  ablest  men  that  Greece  ever  pro 
duced. 

14.  Distinguished  alike  as  a  warrior,  an  orator,  and  a  statesman, 
and  in  his  nature  noble  and  generous,  Alcibiades  would  have  been 
truly  worthy  of  our  admiration  if  he  had  possessed  probity  ;  but  his 
want  of  principle,  and  his  unruly  passions,  led  him  to  commit  many 
grievous  errors,  whioh  contributed  not  a  little  to  produce  or  aggravate 
those  calamities  which  finally  overtook  him. 

15.  About  the  time  of  the  death  of  Alcibiades,  Athens  ceased  to  be 


he  accused?  What  became  of  him  afterwards?  10.  To  what  different  countries  did  he 
wander?  11.  What  was  Pharnabasus  incited  by  the  Lacedaemonians  to  do?  Did  he 
comply?  12.  Wheie  was  Alcibiades  living?  Describe  the  mode  of  his  death?  13. 
What  of  Timandra?     14.  What  of  the  character  of  Alcibiades? 

15.  What  of  Athens  about  the  time  of  his  death?    What  had  been  the  success  of  th« 
19* 


222  PERIOD  III.— 493  B.  U  TO  4lM  13.  0. 

an  independent  state.  His  countrymen  had  continued  the  war  after 
his  retirement,  but  without  success.  The  Lacedaemonians  were  now 
commanded  by  an  able  officer  named  Lysander,  who,  after  taking  by 
storm  the  important  stronghold  of  Lampsacus,  attacked  and  totally 
destroyed  the  Athenian  fleet  as  it  was  advancing  for  the  relief  of  the 
place. 

16.  A  very  able  and  excellent  Athenian,  who  bore  the  illustrious 
name  of  Conon,  and  was  a  descendant  of  Miltiades,  was  the  comman- 
der in  this  unfortunate  affair,  which  took  place  off  ^Egospotomas,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Hellespont  from  Lampsacus,  (405  B.  C.) 

17.  Having  thus  obtained  the  undisputed  command  of  the  sea, 
Lysander  easily  reduced  those  cities  on  the  coasts  of  Thrace  and  Asia 
Minor,  and  those  islands  of  the  iEgean,  which  still  acknowledged  the 
supremacy  of  Athens.  Having  thus  stripped  that  once  lordly  state 
of  all  its  dependencies,  he  proceeded  to  blockade  the  city  of  Athens 
itself. 

18.  The  Athenians  made  a  heioic  defence,  but,  after  a  lengthened 
siege,  during  which  they  suffered  all  the  horrors  of  famine,  they  were 
at  length  obliged  to  surrender  on  such  conditions  as  their  enemies 
thought  fit  to  impose,  (404  B.  C.)  The  Spartans  demanded  that  the 
fortifications  of  Piraeus,  and  the  long  walls  which  connected  it  with 
the  city,  should  be  demolished  ;  that  the  Athenians  should  relinquish 
all  pretensions  to  authority  over  their  former  tributaries,  recall  the  ex- 
iled partisans  of  the  four  hundred  tyrants,  acknowledge  the  suprem- 
acy of  Sparta,  and  follow  its  commanders  in  time  of  war  ;  and,  finally, 
that  they  should  adopt  such  a  political  constitution  as  should  meet  the 
approbation  of  the  Lacedaemonians. 

19.  Thus  sank  the  power  of  Athens,  which  had  so  long  been  the 
leading  state  of  Greece,  and  thus  terminated  the  Peloponnesian  war, 
in  which  the  Grecian  communities  had  been  so  long  engaged,  to  little 
other  purpose  than  to  waste  the  strength  and  exhaust  the  resources  of 
their  common  country. 


CHAPTER  LXXXVI. 

Origin  of  the  Drama.  —  Dramatists  of  the  Third  Period. 

1.  The  origin  of  theatrical  representations  has  been  traced  to  the 
Grecian  custom  of  celebrating,  in  the  grape  season,  the  praises  of 
Bacchus,  the  god  of  wine,  by  joyous  dances,  and  the  chanting  of 
hymns  —  a  species  of  festivity  perhaps  akin  to  some  of  the  ceremonies 
which  attend  the  "  harvest  home"  in  many  modern  countries. 

2.  By  way  of  varying  the  hymns,  or  Dithyrambics,  as  they  were 
called,  an  ingenious  man,  named  Thespis,  and  from  whom  theatrical 

war?    Who  was  the  Spartan  general?    What  town  had  he  taken?    What  of  the  Athe- 
nian fleet?     16.  What  of  Conon?     17.  What  did  Lysander  next  do?     18.  What  of  the 
obckade  of  Athens?     What  condition  did  the  Spartans  impose? 
LXXXVI.  —  1.  To  what  has  the  origin  of  theatrical  representations  been  traced  1 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  DRAMA.  223 

performers  are  still  called  Thespians,  originated  a  custom  of  intro- 
ducing a  single  speaker,  whose  duty  it  was  to  amuse  the  company 
with  recitations. 

3.  Thespis  was  a  native  of  Icaria,  in  Attica,  and  lived  *n  the  early 
part  of  the  sixth  century  before  the  Christian  era.  He  also  contrived 
a  rude  movable  car,  on  which  his  performers  went  through  their  ex- 
hibitions in  various  places. 

4.  The  car  was  the  first  form  of  the  stage  ;  the  single  reciter  was 
■  the  first  kind  of  actor  ;  the  persons  who  sang  the  hymns  or  choruses, 

although  unknown  to  the  modern  theatre,  continued  ever  afterwards 
to  be  an  essential  part  of  that  of  Greece,  under  the  appellation  of  the 
chorus;  their  duty  being  to  stand  by  during  the  performance,  and 
make  explanatory  comments  on  what  was  passing. 

5.  The  car  of  Thespis  was  soon  exchanged  for  a  fixed  stage  in  the 
temple  of  Bacchus  ;  a  second  reciter  was  introduced  ;  masks,  dresses, 
and  scenery,  were  used ;  and  in  a  wonderfully  short  space  of  time 
from  the  rise  of  Thespis,  entertainments  of  this  nature  had  assumed 
something  like  a  dramatic  form. 

6.  Originally,  the  incidents  represented  were  chiefly  selected  from 
the  fabulous  and  poetical  history  of  early  Greece.  The  ancient  thea- 
tres were  constructed  on  a  very  extensive  scale,  and  differed  in  many 
respects  from  the  places  on  which  the  same  appellation  is  bestowed  in 
modern  times. 

7.  Instead  of  consisting  of  a  covered  edifice,  in  which  a  limited 
audience  assemble  for  a  few  hours  in  the  evening,  the  Grecian  theatre 
was  a  large  area,  enclosed  with  a  wall,  but  open  above,  in  which 
almost  the  entire  population  passed  the  whole  day,  during  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  festivals  of  Bacchus,  in  witnessing  the  representation  of  a 
series  of  dramatic  pieces. 

8.  The  site  chosen  for  the  theatre  was  generally  the  slope  of  a  hill, 
that  the  natural  inclination  of  the  ground  might  enable  the  occupants 
of  the  successive  tiers  of  seats  to  see  the  performers  on  the  stage 
without  obstruction.  The  enclosure  sometimes  comprehended  so 
large  a  space,  that  it  could  accommodate  from  twenty  to  thirty  thou- 
sand persons.  Behind  the  scenes  there  was  a  double  portico,  to 
which  the  audience  were  at  liberty  to  resort  for  shelter  when  it  rained. 

9.  The  theatre  was  opened  in  the  morning,  and  the  people  brought 
with  them  cushions  to  sit  on,  and  a  supply  of  provisions  that  they 
might  not  need  to  quit  their  places  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  re- 
freshments during  the  performance.  The  daily  entertainments  con- 
sisted of  a  succession  of  four  plays  —  three  tragedies  and  a  comedy  — 
and  at  the  conclusion  of  the  representation,  certain  judges  decided  on 
the  relative  merits  of  the  pieces  brought  forward,  and  awarded  the 
dramatic  prize  to  the  favorite  of  the  day. 

10.  The  emulation  excited  by  these  public  awards  of  honor,  led  to 

2.  What  custom  was  orisrinated  by  Thespis  ?  3.  What  of  Thespis?  What  did  he  con- 
trive?   4.  What  was  thecar  that  he  invented?    The  single  reciter?    The  singer? 

5.  What  improvements  were  soon  made  ?  6.  What  were  the  incidents  usually  selected  ? 
7.  How  were  ancient  theatres  constructed?  8.  What  of  the  site  chosen  ?  How  many 
persons  would  the  enclosure  hold?  Where  did  the  audience  resort  when  it  rained? 
9.  At  what  time  did  the  theatre  open?  What  did  the  people  bring  with  them?  Of  what 
did  the  entertainments  consist?     10.  What  did  emulation  lead  to?    How  many  playt 


224  PERIOD   III. —  493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 

the  production  of  dramatic  compositions  in  great  numbers  throughou* 
Greece,  and  particularly  at  Athens.  The  theatre  of  that  city,  we  are 
told,  at  one  period  possessed  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  trage- 
dies of  the  first  class,  and  five  hundred  of  the  second,  together  with 
an  equally  numerous  collection  of  comedies  and  satirical  farces. 

11.  Very  little  is  known  respecting  the  personal  history  of  the  first 
Creek  dramatists.  Phrynicus,  to  whom  is  attributed  the  invention  of 
the  theatric  mask,  was  a  pupil  of  Thespis,  and  a  contemporary  of 
Chcerilus,  the  first  dramatic  poet  whose  plays  were  acted  on  a  fixed 
stage. 

12.  About  the  same  period  flourished  Pratinus,  the  inventor  of 
what  is  called  the  satyric  drama,  from  the  circumstances  that  the 
choruses  introduced  into  it  were  chiefly  satyrs.  But  the  first  Grecian 
dramatist  of  eminence  was  ^schylns. 

13.  This  writer  was  a  native  of  Eleusis,  a  city  of  Attica,  and  was 
born  in  the  year  525  B.  C.  The  numerous  and  important  improve- 
ments which  he  effected  on  the  Athenian  theatre,  and  the  force  and 
dignity  of  his  tragic  compositions,  elevated  and  refined  the  infant 
drama,  and  justly  entitled  him  to  the  honorable  designation  of  "  the 
father  of  tragedy." 

14.  After  enjoying  undisturbed  possession  of  the  dramatic  throne 
till  his  fifty-sixth  year,  ^Eschylus  was  defeated  in  a  theatrical  contest 
by  Sophocles,  a  young  competitor  of  great  merit  and  genius.  Unable 
to  endure  the  mortification  of  seeing  the  works  of  his  rival  preferred 
to  his  own,  the  elder  bard  withdrew  from  Athens  and  passed  into 
Sicily,  where  he  was  received  with  welcome  by  Hiero,  King  of  Syra- 
cuse, at  whose  court  the  lyrical  poets  Sirnonides  and  Pindar,  and  the 
comic  writer  Epicharmus,  were  then  residing.  iEschylus  died  at 
Gela,  in  Sicily,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  (456  B.  C.) 

15.  A  singular  account  is  given  of  the  manner  of  his  death.  It  is 
said  that,  while  he  was  one  day  walking,  bareheaded,  in  the  fields, 
an  eagle,  mistaking  his  bald  head  for  a  stone,  let  fall  a  tortoise  upon 
it,  by  which  he  was  killed  on  the  spot.  The  inhabitants  of  Gela 
buried  iEschylus  with  much  pomp,  and  erected  a  monument  over  his 
grave. 

16.  Of  nearly  one  hundred  dramas  composed  by  ^Eschylus,  only 
seven  have  been  preserved.  His  works  are  characterized  by  a  bold- 
ness and  originality  which  have  seldom  been  rivalled  ;  though  it  must 
be  admitted,  that,  in  endeavoring  to  be  concise  and  forcible,  he  occa 
sionally  becomes  abrupt  and  obscure,  and  that  his  language,  although 
generally  grand  and  sublime,  is  often  of  a  bombastic  character. 

did  the  thealre  of  Athens  possess?  11.  What  is  known  of  the  first  Greek  dramatists? 
What  of  Phrynicus?  12.  Pratinus?  13.  What  of  jEschylus?  14.  By  whom  was  he 
defeated  in  a  theatrical  contest?  Where  did  lie  go  ?  His  death  ?  15.  What  account  w 
tjiver;  of  his  death?  What  of  his  burial?  16.  flow  many  of  his  works  have  been  pre 
nerved  ?    Whai  of  his  works  ? 


DRAMATISTS.  225 

CHAPTER   LXXXVII. 

Dramatists,  continued. 

1  Sophocles,  the  successful  rival  of  iEschylus,  was  born  at 
Cosmos,  in  the  vicinity  of  Athens,  about  the  year  497  B.  C.  Hid 
father,  Sophilus,  although  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  appears  to  have 
been  a  person  of  some  consequence,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  easy 
circumstances.  Sophocles  received  from  him  a  good  education,  and 
was  early  distinguished  for  the  rapidity  of  his  progress  in  his  studies. 

2.  He  had  attained  his  sixteenth  year  at  the  time  of  the  memorable 
sea-fight  near  Salamis,  and  was  selected,  on  account  of  his  personal 
beauty  and  skill  in  music,  to  lead  the  chorus  of  noble  youths  who 
sang  and  danced  round  the  trophy  erected  by  the  Greeks  in  commem- 
oration of  that  victory. 

3.  The  dramatic  achievements  of  ^schylus  had  early  excited  the 
admiration  and  awakened  the  ambition  of  Sophocles,  and  on  his 
arrival  at  manhood  he  bent  all  the  energies  of  his  mind  to  the 
composition  of  tragic  poetry.  After  spending  a  considerable  period 
in  preparation,  he  at  length,  in  his  twenty-eighth  year,  ventured  tc 
compete  with  -^Eschylus  for  the  dramatic  prize. 

4.  Encouraged  by  the  decision  of  the  judges  in  his  favor,  Sophocles 
continued  to  write  for  the  stage,  and  is  said  to  have  produced  no  less 
than  one  hundred  and  twenty  tragedies,  only  seven  of  which  have 
come  down  to  modern  times.  He  also  composed  a  number  of  elegiac 
and  lyrical  poems,  and  a  prose  work  on  dramatic  poetry. 

5.  Sophocles  was  a  warrior  and  a  politician  as  well  as  a  poet.  •  He 
served  under  Pericles  in  the  Lacedemonian  war,  and  was  afterwards 
associated  with  him  in  the  command  of  an  army,  sent  by  the  Atheni- 
ans against  the  island  of  Samos.  He  led  the  forces  which  captured 
Anaea,  an  Ionian  city,  not  far  from  Samos  ;  and  after  his  return  from 
his  military  campaigns,  his  grateful  countrymen  elected  him  archon, 
or  chief  magistrate. 

6.  His  popularity  suffered  no  diminution  during  the  remainder  o* 
his  long  life.  As  often  as  he  appeared  in  the  theatre,  which  he 
always  did  when  any  of  his  pieces  were  to  be  performed,  he  was 
greeted  with  the  enthusiastic  plaudits  of  the  audience,  and  the  theatri- 
cal judges  twenty  times  conferred  upon  him  the  crown  of  victory. 
He  was  not,  however,  without  his  share  of  afflictions. 

7.  When  he  had  reached  an  advanced  age,  his  undutiful  children 
impelled  by  a  desire  to  obtain  immediate  possession  of  his  property, 
affected  to  believe  that  he  had  fallen  into  a  state  of  mental  imbecility, 
and  applied  to  the  courts  of  law  for  authority  to  deprive  him  of  the 

LXXXVII. —  1.  What  of  Sophocles?  His  father?  The  education  of  Sophocles? 
'i.  For  what  purpose  was  he  selected,  at  the  victory  of  Salamis?  3.  What  effect  had 
the  example  of  iEschylus  upon  him?  What  did  he  do,  on  his  arrival  at  manhood? 
4.  How  many  tragedies  did  he  produce?  How  many  now  exist?  What  other  works 
did  he  compose  ?  5.  What  of  Sophocles  as  a  warrior?  6.  What  of  his  popularity  during 
3fe  1    What  happened  when  he  appeared  in  the  theatre  ?    7.  How  did  his  children  altera. " 

15 


t'26  PERIOD  HI. -493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.C. 

management  of  his  affairs.  But  Sophocles  found  it  no  difficult  task 
to  prove,  that,  although  he  was  old,  his  mind  was  still  unimpaired. 

8.  He  produced  and  read  in  open  court  the  tragedy  of  CEdipus 
Coloneus,  which  he  had  just  composed,  and  then  asked  whether  a 
person  in  a  state  of  dotage  could  produce  such  a  work.  The  judges, 
filled  with  admiration  of  his  talents,  not  only  refused  the  application 
of  his  children,  but  censured  them  severely  for  their  base  and  unfilial 
attempt. 

9.  Although  Sophocles  received  many  invitations  to  visit  foreign 
countries,  his  attachment  to  his  native  land  was  jso  strong,  that  he 
never  could  make  up  his  mind  to  quit  it,  even  for  a  time.  He  died  at 
Athens  in  his  ninetieth  year,  (407  B.  C.)  According  to  the  common 
account,  his  death  was  occasioned  by  the  excess  of  his  joy  at  obtain- 
ing the  prize  for  a  play  which  he  had  brought  forward  even  at  that 
very  advanced  age. 

10.  At  the  period  of  his  decease,  Athens  was  besieged  by  the 
Lacedaemonians ;  and  so  high  was  the  respect  in  which  the  poetic 
abilities  of  Sophocles  were  held  even  by  that  rigid  people,  that  their 
general,  Lysander,  granted  an  armistice  until  his  funeral  obsequies 
should  be  performed.  The  voice  of  his  contemporaries  and  of  all 
succeeding  ages  has  assigned  to  Sophocles  the  first  rank  as  a  tragic 
poet.  His  countrymen,  who  admired  him  for  his  splendid  talents  not 
more  than  they  loved  him  for  his  mild,  amiable,  and  upright  character, 
erected  a  sumptuous  monument  to  his  memory. 

11.  Euripides,  another  celebrated  tragic  poet,  was  born  at  Salamis, 
on  the  very  day  of  the  great  naval  conflict  between  the  Greeks  and 
Persians  near  that  island.  His  father,  Mnesarchus,  appears  to  have 
been  of  respectable  rank,  and  we  are  expressly  told  that  his  mother, 
Clito,  was  nobly  born,  although  the  comic  poet  Aristophanes  asserts, 
in  one  of  his  plays,  that  she  was  a  vender  of  pot-herbs. 

12.  It  is  possible  that  in  the  general  distress  occasioned  by  the 
Persian  invasion  of  the  Athenian  territory,  the  parents  of  Euripides 
might  be  obliged  to  follow  an  humble  occupation  in  order  to  gain  a 
livelihood  ;  but  if  this  was  the  case,  it  can  only  have  been  for  a  short 
period,  since  they  were  certainly  able  to  bestow  upon  their  son  such 
an  education  as,  in  those  days,  none  but  persons  in  affluent  circum- 
stances could  do. 

13.  The  Delphic  oracle  having  predicted  that  Euripides  would 
become  an  object  of  general  admiration,  and  be  crowned  with  the 
victor's  wreath,  his  parents  imagined  that  he  was  destined  to  excel  in 
gymnastic  contests.  But  while  they  were,  on  this  account,  at  much 
pains  to  have  him  well  trained  in  athletic  exercises,  they  did  not 
neglect  the  cultivation  of  his  mind. 

14.  He  had  the  celebrated  Anaxagoras  for  his  teacher  of  philosophy, 
and  Prodicus,  an  accomplished  rhetorician,  gave  him  lessons  in  oratory 

to  gain  possession  of  his  property  ?  8.  How  did  he  foil  them  ?  9.  Did  Sophocles  ever 
leave  his  native  country?  At  what  age  did  he  die?  What  was  said  to  be  the  cause  of 
his  death  ?  10.  How  did  the  Lacedaemonians  testify  their  respect  for  his  abilities  ?  His 
countrymen? 

11.  What  ef  Euripides?  His  father  and  mother?  12.  The  education  of  Eurip'ubs  ? 
13.  What  ha.1  been  predicted  of  him  by  the  Delphic  oracle?  What  did  his  parenm 
imaginj  was  the  meaning  of  this  prediction?     14.   Who  were  his  teachers?     In  what 


EURIHDES.  227 

He  also  studiec  music  and  painting,  particularly  the  latter,  in  which 
he  attained  very  considerable  eminence. 

15.  When  Euripides  had  reached  an  age  at  which  he  became  his 
own  master,  he  abandoned  the  exercise  of  the  gymnasium,  for  which 
he  appears  never  to  have  had  much  relish,  and  applied  himself  with 
more  ardor  than  ever  to  his  favorite  philosophical  and  literary  studies. 

16.  Warned,  however,  by  the  fate  of  his  teacher,  Anaxagoras, 
who  was  banished  from  Athens  for  promulgating  opinions  subversive 
of  the  established  religion,  he  prudently  resolved  to  adopt  a  profession 
less  dangerous  than  that  of  correcting  popular  errors,  and  accordingly 
began,  in  his  eighteenth  year,  to  write  for  the  stage. 

17.  From  this  period,  until  he  quitted  Athens  for  Macedonia,  in 
his  seventy-second  year,  he  continued  his  dramatic  labors,  and  wrote 
seventy-five,  or,  as  some  affirm,  ninety-two  plays.  He  composed 
many  of  his  tragedies  in  a  gloomy  cave  in  his  native  island  of  Salamis, 
to  which  he,  from  time  to  time,  retired  for  that  purpose  from  the  noise 
and  bustle  of  Athens. 

18.  He  wrote  slowly,  on  account  of  the  infinite  pains  he  took  to 
polish  his  works;  and  it  is  related,  that,  having  once  mentioned  his 
having  taken  three  days  to  compose  three  verses,  a  brother  poet 
boasted  of  having  written  a  hundred  in  as  brief  a  space.  "  That  may 
be,"  replied  Euripides ;  "  but  you  ought  to  remember  that  your 
verses  are  destined  to  perish  as  quickly  as  they  are  composed,  while 
mine  are  int°nded  to  last  forever.'1 

19.  In  his  seventy-second  year  Euripides  accepted  an  invitation 
from  Archilaus,  King  of  Macedon,  and  repaired  to  the  court  of  that 
prince,  who  had  drawn  around  him  many  other  eminent  men  from  the 
republics  of  Greece.  Thus,  by  his  journey  to  Macedon,  Euripides 
had  the  pleasure  of  living  in  the  society  of  Zeuxis,  a  celebrated 
painter ;  Timotheus,  a  skilful  musician ;  Agatho,  an  able  tragic 
writer ;  and  many  other  men  of  note  and  ability. 

20.  Euripides  died  at  the  court  of  Macedon,  in  the  seventy-fifth 
year  of  his  age,  and  the  third  of  his  residence  in  that  country,  (405 
B.  C.)  The  manner  of  his  death  is  uncertain,  but  the  vulgar  account 
is,  that  he  was  torn  in  pieces  by  King  Archilaus'  hounds  while 
walking  in  a  wood.  The  Macedonian  monarch  gave  his  remains  a 
pompous  funeral,  and  erected  a  monument  to  his  memory. 

21.  The  dramatic  compositions  of  Euripides  have  less  of  sublimity, 
but  more  of  tenderness,  than  those  of  ^Eschylus  and  Sophocles. 
They  are  justly  admired  for  the  moral  and  philosophical  sentiments 
with  which  they  abound,  as  well  as  for  the  exquisite  beauty  of  their 
versification ;  but  Euripides  has  been  blamed  for  want  of  skill  in  the 
formation  of  his  plots,  and  the  Athenians  thought  they  discovered 
impiety  in  some  of  his  expressions.  He  twice  married,  and  in  both 
instances,  unhappily,  which  probably  led  to  that  severe  treatment  of 

art  did  he  acquire  eminence?  15.  To  what  studies  did  Euripide.*  apply  himself  on  cim- 
in»  of  age?  16.  What  had  been  the  fate  of  his  teacher  Anaxagi  ras  ?  What  profession 
di(l  he  adopt  ?  How  many  plays  is  he  said  to  have  composed  J  Where  did  he  compose 
many  of  them  ?  18.  What  anecdote  is  related  of  his  slowness  in  wYiting  ?  19.  What 
invitation  did  he  accept?  In  whose  society  did  he  live?  20.  What  of  his  death? 
21.  What  may  be  said  of  the  dramatic  compositions  of  Euripides?  His  marriages' 
What  gave  rise  to  his  being  called  the  "  woman-hater?"    22.   Wrhat  was  the  origin  o' 


2;JS  PERIOD  111.-493  B.  C.   TO  401   B.  C 

the  fen  die  sex  in  his  works,  whence  he  is  denominated  the  "  woman- 
natcr." 

22.  As  tragedy  took  its  rise  from  the  dithyrambic  verses  sung  at 
the  feasts  of  Bacchus,  so  comedy  sprang  from  the  phallic  hymn  which 
was  chanted  by  the  processions  of  worshippers  during  the  same  fest.i 
vals. 

23.  The  earliest  comic  performances  were  little  else  than  mere 
mountebank  exhibitions.  Susurion,  who  is  generally  leferred  to  as 
the  first  comedian,  was  a  person  who  wandered  through  the  villages 
of  Attica  with  a  company  of  buffoons,  reciting  ludicrous  compositions 
on  a  temporary  stage. 

24.  Epicharmus,  a  native  of  the  island  of  Ceos,  but  who  spent  the 
greater  portion  of  his  life  in  Sicily,  whither  he  was  carried  by  his 
parents  when  only  three  months  old,  is  generally  believed  to  have 
been  the  first  comic  poet.  He  flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
century  before  Christ,  and  composed  fifty-two  comedies,  all  of  which 
have  perished. 

25.  For  alluding  disrespectfully  to  the  wife  of  Hiero,  King  of 
Syracuse,  in  one  of  his  plays,  he  was  banished  from  Sicily.  He  lived 
till  he  was  between  ninety  and  a  hundred  years  of  age.  Contempo- 
rary with  Epicharmus  lived  Cratinus  and  Eupolis,  natives  of  Athens, 
both  of  whom  composed  many  comedies.  None  of  these  have  been 
preserved. 

26.  Aristophanes,  the  most  celebrated  of  the  comic  poets  of  Greece, 
vas  a  native  of  Athens.  The  date  of  his  birth  is  uncertain,  but  it  is 
Known  that  he  brought  forward  his  first  comedy  in  the  fourth  year  of 

he  Peloponnesian  war,  (427  B.  C.)  He  enjoyed  a  very  large  share 
of  popularity,  and  continued  for  many  years  to  write  successfully  for 
the  stage.  His  plays,  like  those  of  the  other  early  comic  poets, 
consist  of  caricatured  and  ludicrous  representations  of  living  men  and 
manners.  Seventeen  only,  out  of  fifty-four  plays  composed  by  him 
'ie  now  extant. 


CHAPTER   LXXXVIII 

Poets  and  Historians  of  the  Third  Period. 

1.  The  most  celebrated  poet  of  this  period,  exclusive  of  the  distin- 
guished dramatists  already  mentioned,  was  Pindar,  whose  lyrical 
oomposuions  have  been  the  objects  of  general  admiration,  both  in 
ancient  and  modern  times.  He  was  a  native  of  CynoscephaTae,  near 
Thebes,  the  capital  of  Bceotia,  and  is  believed  to  have  been  born  about 
the  year  520  B.  C. 

2.  The  first  poetical  efforts  of  Pindar  were  not  appreciated  by  his 
countrymen,  the  Boeotians,  but  the  rest  of  Greece  hastened  to  testify 
its  admiration  of  his  genius.     Hiero,  King  of  Syracuse,  and  Theron, 

comedy?     What  of  the  early  comic  performances?     What  of  Susurion  ?    24.  Epichar- 
mus?    25.   For  what  reason  was   he   banished?     His  death?     What  of  Cratinus  and 
Eupolis?    26    What  of  Aristophanes?     His  popularity  ?    Of  what  do  his  plays  consist  ? 
How  many  aie  now  extant? 
LXXXVIII— 1.    What  of  Pindar?    2.   His  first  efforts?    3.  What  did  the  Delphic 


POETS  AND  HISTORIANS.  229 

King-  of  Agrigentum,  bestowed  upon  him  their  friendship  and  patron 
ige  ;  and  princes  and  states  vied  with  each  other  in  rendering  him  honor. 

3.  The  Delphic  oracle  ordered  a  seat  to  be  placed  for  him  in  the 
temple  of  Apollo,  where  he  might  sing  the  verses  which  he  composed 
in  praise  of  that  god.  The  oracle  further  directed  that  a  portion  of 
the  first  fruits  offered  in  the  temple  should  be  set  apart  for  his  use. 

4.  Having  given  offence  to  his  countrymen,  by  speaking  of  the 
Athenians  in  very  laudatory  terms  in  one  of  his  poems,  they  imposed 
upon  him  a  considerable  fine.  But  the  Athenians  did  not  allow  him 
to  be  a  loser  on  their  account,  for  they  immediately  presented  him 
with  a  sum  of  money  double  in  amount  to  the  fine. 

5.  Pindar  died  suddenly,  in  his  fifty-fifth  year,  while  sitting  in  the 
public  theatre.  The  respect  in  which  he  had  been  held  while  living, 
was  only  increased  by  his  decease.  Such  was  the  veneration  with 
which  his  memory  was  regarded,  that,  when  the  Lacedaemonians  took 
and  destroyed  Thebes,  they  spared  the  house  and  family  of  Pindar, 
as  did  also  Alexander  the  Great,  when  he,  at  a  later  period /captured 
the  same  city. 

6.  The  lyrics  of  Pindar  abound  in  moral  and  elevating  sentiments, 
while  they  are  characterized  by  so  much  originality  of  thought  and 
vigor  of>  expression,  that  he  is  justly  regarded  as  the  first  lyrical  poet 
of  Greece.  Many  of  his  compositions  have,  unfortunately,  been  lost ; 
all  that  are  still  extant  being  four  books  of  odes  in  celebration  of  the 
victors  at  the  Olympian,  Pythian,  Nemeean,  and  Isthmian  games. 

7.  The  fifth  century  before  the  Christian  era  is  remarkable  as  that 
in  which  historical  writing  took  its  rise.  The  fanciful  and  often 
purely  fabulous  compositions  of  the  poet,  and  the  uncertain  voice  of 
tradition,  were,  previous  to  this  period,  the  only  records  of  the  past 
with  the  exception  of  the  Sacred  Writings. 

8.  Herodotus,  the  first  Greek  historian,  was  born  at  Halicarnassus 
one  of  the  Dorian  Greek  cities  of  Asia  Minor,  in  the  year  484  B.  C 
After  his  arrival  at  manhood,  he  removed  to  Samos,  where  the 
prevailing  dialect  was  that  elegant  Ionic  in  which  the  poems  of 
Homer  are  composed,  and  of  this  Herodotus  soon  became  so  complete 
a  master,  that  his  productions  are  said  to  exhibit  it  in  greater  perfec- 
tion than  any  others. 

9.  Having  formed  a  design  of  writing  history,  Herodotus  travelled 
for  materials  into  Egypt  and  Italy,  besides  various  parts  of  Asia  ;  and  in 
this  manner  acquired  much  valuable  information  respecting  nations  pre- 
viously little  known,  and  manners  and  customs  never  before  described. 

10.  After  composing  an  account  of  all  he  had  seen  and  learnt,  in 
nine  books,  he  read  parts  of  it  to  the  Greeks  assembled  at  the  Olympic 
games,  and  thus  obtained  a  wider  and  more  immediate  fame  than  could 
otherwise  have  been  acquired,  in  times  so  deficient  in  the  means  of 

oracle  order  for  him?  4.  How  did  he  give  offence  to  his  countrymen?  Did  the  Athe- 
nians allow  him  to  be  a  sufferer  on  their  account  ?  5.  His  death  ?  What  of  the  respect 
paid  to  his  memory  ?  6.  What  may  be  said  of  his  poetry  ?  How  many  of  his  compo 
sitions  are  still  extant? 

7.  When  did  historical  writing  take  its  rise?  What  had  previously  been  the  only 
record  of  the  past  ?  8.  What  of  Herodotus  ?  His  removal  to  Samos  ?  9.  Where  d'"l 
Herodotus  travel  ?  What  information  did  he  gain?  10.  How  did  the  Greeks  become 
acquainted  with  his  works  ">  For  what  are  we  indebted  to  Herodotus?  His  life  an i 
death?  2Q 


230  PERIOD  III.— 493  B.  C.  TO  401  B.C. 

multiplying  copies  of  literary  works.  To  Herodotus  we  owe  what 
knowledge  we  now  possess  of  a  large  and  important  part  of  ancien* 
history.  He  is  supposed  to  have  passed  the  latter  part  of  his  life  at 
Thurium,  a  city  of  Magna  Graecia,  and  to  have  died  there  when 
upwards  of  seventy  years  old,  (413  B.  C.) 

11.  Thucydides,  another  able  Greek  historian,  was  born  at  Athens 
in  the  year  470  B.  C.  His  father,  Olorus,  was  one  of  the  noblest  and 
wealthiest  citizens  of  Athens,  and  claimed  to  be  a  descendant  of  the 

Jrings  of  Thrace.  Thucydides  received  an  excellent  education,  Anax- 
agoras  having  been  his  instructor  in  philosophy,  and  a  noted  rhetorician, 
named  Antiphon,  his  teacher  of  oratory. 

12.  When  about  fifteen  years  of  age  he  accompanied  his  father  to 
the  Olympic  festival,  where,  hearing  Herodotus  recite  a  portion  ot 
his  history  amidst  the  applauses  of  the  assembled  Greeks,  he  was  so 
strongly  animated  with  a  desire  of  emulating  the  admired  historian, 
that  he  burst  into  tears.  Herodotus  chanced  to  perceive  this,  and,  it 
is  said,  congratulated  the  father  of  Thucydides  on  possessing  a  son 
who,  at  so  early  an  age,  manifested  so  ardent  a  love  of  letters. 

13.  From  this  time  Thucydides  never  ceased  to  regard  the  compo- 
sition of  history  as  the  chief  object  of  his  ambition.  On  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  (431  B.C.,)  rightly  believing  that  a 
series  of  important  events  was  commencing,  which  would  furnish 
ample  materials  for  an  interesting  history,  he  began  to  take  notes  of 
all  that  occurred,  and  continued  tins  practice  during  a  greater  part  of 
that  lengthened  contest.  From  these  notes  he  afterwards  formed  an 
admirable  and  highly  finished  historical  work. 

14.  In  the  early  part  of  the  struggle,  Thucydides  resided  in  Athens, 
and  personally  witnessed  the  ravages  of  the  pestilence,  of  which  he 
has  given  a  most  graphic  and  striking  account.  He  afterwards 
removed  to  Thasos,  an  island  in  the  iEgean,  not  far  from  the  coast 
of  Thrace,  the  land  of  his  ancestors,  where  he  possessed  large  estates 
and  some  valuable  gold  mines.  He  subsequently  travelled,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  died  about  410  B.  C. 

15.  His  history,  which  is  written  in  the  Attic  dialect,  consists  of 
eight  books,  and  is  much  admired  for  its  bold  and  animated  descrip- 
tions, its  scrupulous  adherence  to  truth,  and  the  spirit  of  impartiality 
and  candor  which  pervades  the  whole  narration. 


CHAPTER    LXXXIX. 

Philosophers  of  the  Third  Period. 

1  The  two  original  schools  of  Grecian  philosophy,  the  Ionic, 
founded  by  Thales,  and  the  Italic,  founded   by  Pythagoras,  were, 

11.  What  of  Thucydides?  His  lather  ?  His  education?  12.  What  happened  at  the 
Olympic  games  ?  13.  What  did  Thucydides  regard  as  the  chief  object  of  his  ambition  ? 
What  iid  he  do  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  ?  What  was  the  result  of 
this  practice?  14.  Where  did  Thucydides  reside  during  the  early  part  of  the  war?  To 
what  place  did  he  afterwards  remove?  In  what  year  is  he  supposed  to  have  died? 
15.   What  of  his  history? 


PHILOSOPHERS.  23  - 

during  the  period  that  now  falls  under  review,  the  parents  of  several 
others,  respectively  named  the  Socr&tic,  the  Eleatic,  and  the  Hpracli- 
teqn.  The  two  last  mentioned  were  modifications  of  the  Italic ;  the 
first  sprang  from  the  school  of  Thales,  in  the  doctrines  of  which  its 
founder,  Socrates,  was  initiated  by  his  preceptors,  Anaxagoras  and 
•Ajchglaiis,  pupils  of  Thales  himself. 

2  The  originator  of  the  Eleatic  sect  was  Xeno_phanes,  a  native  ot 
Qulophoji,  one  of  the  cities  of  Ionia.  He  lived  to  the  great  age  of  one 
hundred  years.  The  time  of  his  death  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  supposed 
to  have  been  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  B.  C.  He  at  first 
professed  the  Pythagorean  philosophy,  but  he  afterwards  blended  it 
with  so  many  opinions  of  his  own,  that  he  came  to  be  regarded  as  the 
founder  of  a  new  school. 

3.  As  none  of  his  writings  have  been  preserved,  some  uncertainty 
exists  respecting  the  precise  nature  of  his  philosophical  system.  It  is, 
however,  believed  that  he  taught  the  eternity  of  the  universe,  asserting 
that  if  there  had  ever  been  a  time  at  which  nothing  existed,  nothing 
could  ever  have  existed.  He  is  further  supposed  to  have  held  that 
there  is  one  God,  incorporeal,  eternal,  intelligent,  and  all-pervading, 
and  that  in  the  universe  there  are  innumerable  worlds. 

4.  Parmeniiles^  a  disciple  of  Xenophanes,  and  his  successor  in  his 
philosophical  school,  was  born  at  Elea,,  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifth 
century  B.  C.  Like  his  master,  Xenophanes,  he  believed  in  the  eter- 
nity of  the  universe,  and  in  the  existence  of  an  all-pervading  and  ani- 
mating principle,  which  he  called  God.  He  taught  that  the  earth  is 
of  a  spherical  form,  and  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  universe ;  that 
there  are  two  elements,  fire  and  earth  ;  and  that  all  things,  animate 
and  inanimate,  have  been  produced  by  the  action  of  the  former  upon 
the  latter. 

5.  Zeno,  commonly  called  "  the  Eleatic,"  to  distinguish  him  from 
the  philosopher  of  the  same  name  who  originated  the  sect  of  the 
Stoics,  was  a  native  of  Elea,  and  a  scholar  of  Parmenides,  whom  he 
afterwards  succeeded  as  a  teacher  of  the  Eleatic  philosophy.  He  was 
a  zealous  assertor  of  popular  rights,  and  is  said  to  have  been  put  to 
death  with  the  most  cruel  torments  by  the  tyrant  of  his  native  city, 
for  having  formed  a  conspiracy  against  his  authority. 

6.  None  of  his  writings  have  been  preserved,  but  it  is  believed  that 
his  philosophical  opinions  differed  but  little  from  those  of  his  prede- 
cessors in  the  same  school.  He  taught,  that  nature  does  not  admit  of 
a  vacuum  ;  that  there  are  four  elements,  namely,  heat,  moisture,  cold, 
and  dryness ;  that  man's  body  is  formed  of  earth,  and  his  soul  of  an 
equal  mixture  of  the  four  elements. 

7.  He  was  an  able  logician,  and  loved  to  display  his  dialectic 
powers,  by  supporting,  indifferently,  either  side  of  a  question,  so  that 

LXXXIX.  —  1.  What  of  the  two  schools  of  Grecian  philosophy  ?  What  schools 
sprang  from  these  1  2.  Who  was  the  originator  of  the  Eleatic  sect  ?  What  of  Xeno- 
phanes ?  His  philosophy  ?  3.  What  is  he  supposed,  however,  to  have  taught  and 
believed? 

4.  Who  was  Parmenides?  In  what  did  he  believe 7  What  did  he  teach?  5.  What 
of  Zeno,  "  the  Eleatic?  "  What  caused  his  death?  6.  What  did  he  believe?  What  did 
n*  teach  ?    7.  What  of  him  as  a  logician  ?    What  did  he  deny  according  to  Seneca  ? 


232  ERIOD  III.  —  493  B.  C.  TO  401  B.  C. 

doubts  exist  as  to  his  real  opinions  on  some  subjects.  He  denied  the 
possibility  of  motion,  and,  according  to  Seneca,  went  so  far  as  even  to 
call  in  question  the  existence  of  the  material  world. 

8.  Zeno  had  a  disciple,  named  Leucippus,  who  was  the  originator 
of  what  is  called  the  atomic  theory,  which  was  afterwards  extended 
and  improved  by  Democritus.  Leucippus  asserted  that  all  things  are 
composed  of  very  minute,  indivisible  atoms,  which  possess  in  them- 
selves the  principle  of  motion,  but  that  the  universe  was  formed  in 
consequence  of  these  atoms  falling  into  a  vacuum. 

9.  Heraclitus,  called  the  "crying  philosopher,"  and  founder  of  a 
sect  called,  from  his  own  name,  Heracliteans,  was  a  native  of  Ephe- 
sus,  in  Ionia,  and  flourished  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifth  century  B.T). 
He  was  so  much  respected  for  his  wisdom,  that  his  fellow-citizens 
requested  him  to  become  their  ruler.  He  refused  to  do  so,  alleging  as 
his  reason  that  their  minds  were  so  perverted  that  they  could  not  relish 
or  appreciate  good  government. 

10.  When  he  appeared  in  public,  he  went  about  ostentatiously 
bewailing  the  wickedness  of  the  world.  In  order  to  show  his  con- 
tempt for  the  ordinary  occupations  of  men,  he  on  one  occasion  played 
at  dice  in  public  with  a  number  of  boys  ;  and  when  the  citizens  gath- 
ered round  him  in  surprise,  he  thus  addressed  them  :  —  "  Wor§t  of 
men,  what  do  you  wonder  at?  is  it  not  better  to  do  this  than  to  govern 
you?" 

11.  At  length,  unable  seemingly  to  endure  the  society  of  his  spe- 
cies, he  withdrew  to  a  mountain  solitude,  where  he  lived,  like  the 
hermits  of  later  ages,  on  herbs  and  roots.  Becoming  dropsical  in  con- 
sequence of  his  rigid  adherence  to  this  poor  diet,  he  returned  to  Ephe- 
sus  to  ask  for  medical  advice.  But,  even  when  his  life  was  at  stake, 
he  was  unwilling  to  act  like  other  men,  and,  accordingly,  instead  of 
plainly  stating  his  case  to  the  physicians,  he  enigmatically  asked 
them,  "  whether  they  could  make  a  drought  of  a  shower?" 

12.  Finding  that  they  did  not  divine  his  meaning,  and  scorning  to 
explain  himself  further,  he  retired  to  an  ox-stall,  where  he  lay  down 
on  a  heap  of  dung,  hoping,  it  is  said,  that  its  warmth  would  draw  out 
the  watery  humors  from  his  body.  There  he  died,  in  the  sixtieth 
year  of  his  age,  a  victim  to  his  cynical  disposition  and  his  excessive 
iove  of  singularity. 

13.  He  left  behind  him  'several  works  which  were  held  in  great 
esteem  by  his  disciples.  He  studied  to  write  as  well  as  to  speak 
obscurely,  so  that  it  required  great  acuteness  as  well  as  pains  to  un- 
derstand his  meaning.  It  is  related  that  the  tragic  poet,  Euripides, 
having  lent  to  Socrates  a  copy  of  a  treatise  composed  by  Heraclitus, 
afterwards  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  the  work,  when  Socrates 
replied,  that,  "  the  things  which  he  understood  in  it  were  excellent, 
and  so,  he  supposed,  were  those  which  he  did  not  understand ;  but 
they  required  a  Delian  diver. " 

8.  What  of  Leucippus?  The  atomic  theory  7  9.  What  of  Heraclitus?  Why  did  he 
refuse  to  become  a  ruler  of  Ephesus ?  10.  What  of  his  appearance  in  public?  What 
did  he  on  one  occasion ?  11.  To  what  place  did  he  remove?  Why  did  he  return?  How 
did  he  stale  his  case  to  the  physicians? 

12.  Hie  death?    13   What  of  his  works?    What  did  Socrates  say  of  a  worJc  con* 


SUCUATI'S.  2'>3 

14.  Emjt jdoeles,  a  celeorated  philosopher  of  the  P^llrjgorean  sect, 
was  a  native  of  Agrigentum,  in  Sicily,  and  flourished  about  the  middle 
of  the  fifth  century  B.  C.  Like  many  other  followers  of  Pythagoras, 
he  engrafted  some  opinions  of  his  own  upon  the  system  of  that  philos- 
opher. He  adhered  to  the  Pythagorean  doctrine  of  the  existence  of 
an  active  and  passive  principle  ;  the  latter  of  which  is  matter,  and  the 
former  an  ethereal  and  intelligent  fire,  by  which  all  things  were  pro- 
duced, and  are  pervaded  and  animated.  He  also  believed  in  the  trans- 
migration of  souls,  and,  consequently,  inculcated  the  duty  of  retraining 
from  killing  or  eating  the  flesh  of  animals. 

15.  Of  the  teachers  of  the  Ionic  school,  the  first  in  point  of  time 
was  Anaxagoras,  on  whom  the  ancients  bestowed  the  remarkable 
appellation  of  Mind,  either  on  account  of  the  singular  vigor  of  his 
intellect,  or  the  circumstance  that  he  was  the  first  who  described  God 
as  an  incorporeal  intelligence,  separate  from,  and  wholly  independent 
of,  matter.  He  was  born  at  Clazomene,  a  city  of  Ionia,  in  the  year 
500  B.  C. 

10.  He  lived  in  Athens  many  years,  and  during  that  period  num- 
bered among  his  pupils  several  individuals  who  afterwards  rose  to 
great  celebrity.  Of  these  may  be  mentioned  Pericles,  Euripides,  and 
Socrates.  At  last,  however,  he  was  brought  to  trial  for  impiety, 
because  he  taught  that  the  sun  was  a  fiery  stone,  and  not  the  god 
\pollo,  as  was  popularly  believed.  He  was  condemned  to  exile,  and 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  teaching  philosophy,  on  the  Asiatic 
side  of  the  Hellespont. 

17.  To  Anaxagoras,  as  has  been  said,  belongs  the  high  honor  of 
having  been  the  first  of  the  ancient  philosophers  who  taught  that  God 
is  independent  of  matter,  and  not,  as  Pythagoras  and  several  other 
philosophers  contended,  merely  a  spiritual  or  fiery  essence  pervading 
the  universe  as  its  soul  or  animating  principle. 

18.  Archelaus,  the  last  of  the  teachers  of  the  Ionic  school,  was  a 
native  either  of  Athens  or  Miletus,  it  is  uncertain  which.  He  was  a 
disciple  of  Anaxagoras,  whom  he  accompanied  into  exile.  On  the 
death  of  that  philosopher,  Archelaus  succeeded  him  in  the  charge  of 
his  school  at  Lampsacus ;  but  he  afterwards  returned  to  Athens,  and 
opened  there  a  school  of  philosophy,  which  was  numerously  attended. 


CHAPTER  XC. 

Socrates. 

1 .  Socrates,  the  greatest  and  the  best  of  philosophers  of  antiquity, 
was  born  at  Athens  in  the  year  470  B.  C.  His  parents  were  in  hum- 
ble circumstances  ;  his  father,  Sophrpniscns,  being  a  statuary  of  little 

fosed  by  him  ?  14.  Who  was  Einpedocles  1  His  philosophy  ?  In  what  did  he  believe  ? 
5.  What  of  Anaxagoras  ?  Where  was  he  born?  16.  Who  were  among  his  pupils? 
Why  was  he  brought  to  trial?  His  exile?  17.  What  honor  belongs  to  Anaxagoras? 
18.  What  of  Ar;helaus? 
XC.  —  1.  Who  was  Socrates?  His  parents?  What  profession  did  he  follow  in  lr 
20* 


2' j  1  PERIOD  III.  -  493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 

reputation,  and  his  mother  a  midwife.  In  his  youth  he  assisted  his 
father  in  his  profession,  but  he  afterwards  abandoned  the  chisel,  and  de- 
voted himself  to  the  more  important  duties  of  a  public  instructor.  Not- 
withstanding- his  father's  limited  means,  he  received  a  good  education. 

2.  He  commenced  his  career  as  a  public  instructor,  in  a  plain  and 
unpretending  manner,  which  formed  a  marked  contrast  to  the  affected 
mystery  and  the  ostentatious  parade  of  learning  with  which  so  many 
of  the  Grecian  teachers  sought  to  gain  the  attention  and  respect  of  the 
public.  He  went  about  without  shoes,  and  wrapped  in  a  poor  cloak, 
at  all  seasons  of  the  year  ;  and  instead  of  confining  himself  to  splendid 
halls  or  porticos,  he  spent  the  whole  day  in  the  public  walks,  the  gym 
nasia,  the  market-place,  the  courts,  and  other  places  of  general  resort, 
reasoning  and  conversing  on  moral  or  philosophical  subjects  with  all 
whom  he  met,  whether  rich  or  poor,  learned  or  illiterate. 

3.  Wherever  he  went,  he  was  attended  by  a  circle  of  admiring  dis- 
ciples, who  caught  from  him  the  spirit  of  free  inquiry,  and  were 
inspired  with  a  portion  of  his  zeal  for  the  highest  good,  for  religion, 
truth,  and  virtue.  Among  the  most  distinguished  of  his  disciples 
.vere  Crito,  Alcibiades,  Xenophon,  Plato.  Aristippus,  Phaedon,  Cebes, 
and  Euclid.  He  instructed  them  in  ethics,  politics,  logic,  rhetoric 
arithmetic,  and  geometry,  and  he  read  with  them  the  principal  poets, 
and  pointed  out  their  beauties. 

4.  He  showed  the  difference  between  religion  and  impiety;  ex- 
plained in  what  justice  and  injustice,  reason  and  folly,  courage  ana 
cowardice,  the  noble  and  ignoble,  consist ;  spoke  of  forms  of  govern- 
ment and  the  qualities  requisite  for  a  magistrate  ;  and  dwelt  on  other 
subjects  with  which  every  upright  man  and  good  citizen  ought  to  be 
acquainted.  He  gave  to  all  his  inquiries  a  practical  turn,  for  he  held 
that  the  end  of  all  knowledge  is  virtue. 

5.  He  was  fully  convinced  of  the  existence  of  an  omnipotent,  omnis- 
cient, and  benignant  God,  the  origin  and  the  governor  of  all  things. 
The  whole  system  of  nature,  and  especially  the  admirable  structure 
of  the  human  frame,  seemed  to  him  a  positive  proof  of  an  intelligent 
Creator.  He  esteemed  it  rash  to  speculate  upon  the  substance  of  this 
great  being,  and  thought  it  sufficient  to  set  in  a  clear  light  his  spiritual 
nature. 

6.  But  although  he  believed  in  one  God,  the  supreme  ruler  of  the 
universe,  he  also  admitted  the  existence  of  other  deities,  whom  he 
seems  to  have  regarded  as  subordinate  intelligences,  possessed  of  a 
certain  degree  of  influence  over  human  affairs,  and  entitled  to  rever- 
ence and  worship.  Of  the  national  religion  he  always  spoke  with 
respect,  and  was  regular  in  the  observance  of  its  prescribed  rites ; 
but  it  is  next  to  impossible  that  this  enlightened  man  could  place  faith 
in  the  extravagant  and  often  revoltingly  immoral  fables  of  the  Grecian 
mythology,  and  there  is  much  reason  to  think  that  he  only  rendered 

youth?  2.  How  did  Socrates  commence  his  career?  What  was  his  appearance  in 
public?     Where  and  how  did  he  spend  the  day? 

3.  By  whom  was  he  attended?  Who  were  among  his  most  distinguished  disciples? 
In  what  did  lie  instruct  them?  4.  What  subjects  die  he  explain  and  dwell  upon?  5. 
«VT.at  idea  did  he  have  of  an  omnipotent  God  ? 

6  Did  he  believe  in  the  existence  of  other  deities  ?     What  must  have  been  his  opinion 


SOCRATES.  235 

homage  to  his  country's  gods,  that  he  might  not  offend  the  religious 
prejudices  of  the  people. 

7.  Socrates  was  distinguished  above  all  the  philosophers  of  Greece 
for  the  undisturbed  serenity  of  his  mind.  He  would  allow  no  misfor- 
tune to  ruffle  his  temper.  His  wife,  Xanthippe,  was  a  noted  shrew  ; 
yet  he  was  exceedingly  kind  to  her,  and  tried  to  smooth  the  asperities 
of  her  temper  ;  and  when  he  found  all  his  efforts  unavailing,  he  re- 
garded her  scoldings  as  only  an  useful  discipline,  calculated  to  teach 
him  patience  and  self-command. 

8.  He  always  treated  his  body  as  a  servant,  and  inured  it  to  every 
privation ;  so  that  moderation  became  to  him  an  easy  virtue,  and  he 
retained  till  old  age  his  youthful  vigor,  both  physical  and  mental.  He 
never  shrank  from  the  performance  of  his  duties  as  a  citizen,  however 
incompatible  they  might  be  with  his  favorite  studies  and  professional 
avocations  as  a  public  teacher 


±.& 


Socrates  saving  Akibiades 


9  Three  times  he  served  in  the  armies  of  his  country ;  the  first 
lime,  when  he  was  thirty-nine  years  ot  age,  at  the  siege  of  Potidaea. 
There  he  excelled  his  fellow-soldiers  in  the  ease  with  which  he  endured 
the  hardships  of  a  winter  campaign,  distinguished  himself  by  his  valor, 
saved  the  life  of  his  youthful  friend,  Alcibiades,  and  afterwards  gener- 
ously resigned  in  his  favor  the  prize  of  honor  which  his  own  bravery 
had  merited. 

10.  Seven  years  after  this,  he  bore  arms  a  second  time,  and  was 
among  the  last  to  retreat  after  the  unfortunate  battle  of  Delium.  J< 
was  during  this  retreat  that  he  saved  the  life  of  the  wounded  Xeno- 
phon,  and  who,  in  grateful  return  for. this  act,  wrote  his  life,  and 

yf  the  national  religion?  7.  For  what  was  Socrates  distinguished  ?  What  of  his  wife? 
How  did  he  regard  the  asperities  of  her  temper? 

8.  How  did  he  treat  his  body  1  His  moderation  ?  His  old  age?  What  o.  the  perform- 
•r.ce  of  his  duties  as  a  citizen  ?  9.  What  of  his  services  in  the  army  ?  Whose  life  did 
He  save  at  Potidaea? 

10.  What  of  the  battle  of  Delium?     Whose  life  did  he  there  save?    By  whom  was  ho 


LWJ 


PERIOD  III.— 493  B.  C.  TO  404  B  C. 


handed  down  to  posterity  the  maxims  of  this  great  philosopher.  In 
♦.his  retreat,  Socrates  would  himself  have  heen  slain,  but  for  the  timely 
assistance  of  Alcibiades,  who  was  thus  enabled  to  repay  the  similar 
service  he  had  formerly  received  from  him. 


Battle  <J  Dehinn. 

11.  Socrates  afterwards  served  the  state  in  a  civil  as  well  as  mili- 
tary capacity.  In  his  sixty-fifth  year  he  became  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  Five  Hundred,  and  rose  to  the  dignity  of  president  —  an 
office  which  could  only  be  held  for  a  single  day.  On  the  day  in  which 
he  exercised  this  onerous  function,  he  had  the  influence  to  procure  the 
acquittal  of  ten  innocent  men,  falsely  accused  by  an  enraged  party  of 
the  citizens,  who  clamorously  demanded  their  execution,  but  no  men- 
aces, or  violence  of  language,  had  any  influence  upon  the  inflexible 
justice  of  Socrates. 

12.  In  the  days  of  Socrates  there  was  a  class  of  teachers  in  Athens, 
named  Sophists,  whose  false  reasonings  and  pernicious  doctrines  he 

himself  saved?     11.  In  what  other  capacity  did  Socrates  serve  the  slate?    What  office 
lid  he  obtain  in  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred?    How  did  he  exercise  this  duty  ? 
12.  What  of  the  Sophists?     What  did  they  profess  to  teach?    How  did  they  attemx* 


SOCRATES.  237 

often  felt  himself  called  to  expose.  These  men  professed  to  teach 
every  branch  of  human  knowledge,  asserting  that  they  knew  everything, 
and  were  intimately  conversant  with  politics,  law,  philosophy,  me  fine 
arts,  &c. 

13.  By  their  miserable  quibbling  and  playing-  upon  words,  they 
often  attempted  to  entangle  and  confound  the  lofty  intellect  of  Socra- 
tes himself;  and  his  disciple,  the  celebrated  Plato,  has  left  us  an 
amusing  account  of  one  of  these  disputations,  in  which  two  Sophists 
endeavored  to  prove  to  Socrates  that  he  could  speak  and  be  silent  at 
the  same  time  ;  that  he  had  a  father,  that  he  had  no  father ;  that  a 
dog  was  his  father ;  that  his  father  was  everybody's  father. 

14.  The  correct  and  vigorous  judgment  of  Socrates  was  more  than 
a  match  for  the  subtleties  of  the  Sophists,  and  in  his  contests  with 
them  he  never  failed  to  expose  the  fallacies  which  their  arguments 
involved,  and  to  draw  forth  the  truth  from  the  mass  of  error  and 
absurdity  under  which  they  had  artfully  concealed  it. 

15.  In  his  disputations  with  the  Sophists,  he  successfully  employed 
his  favorite  and  peculiar  mode  of  arguing,  by  asking  them  a  series  of 
questions,  and  gradually  leading  them  to  make  such  admissions  as 
were  fatal  to  the  side  they  were  supporting.  By  these  means  he  not 
only  overcame  his  opponents,  but  actually  compelled  them  to  confute 
themselves  with  their  own  mouths. 

16.  But  great  as  were  the  services  which  Socrates  had  rendered  to 
his  country,  and  to  the  great  cause  of  truth  and  virtue,  he  was 
doomed  to  feel  the  heavy  burden  of  popular  ingratitude.  The  last 
part  of  his  life  fell  in  that  unhappy  period  when  Athens  had  sunk  into 
a  state  uniting  the  worst  evils  of  anarchy  and  despotism,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  unfortunate  results  of  the  Peloponnesian  war. 

17.  Morality  and  justice  are  always  disregarded  when  the  govern- 
ment of  a  state  is  dissolved.  This  was  then  the  case  in  Athens  ;  and 
amidst  the  general  immorality,  hatred  and  envy  found  opportunities 
to  execute  their  atrocious  purposes.  A  base  faction,  headed  by  a 
young  man  named  Melitus,  accused  Socrates  before  the  assembly  of 
the  people  of  having  introduced  new  gods,  and  of  denying  the  ancient 
divinities  of  the  state ;  by  which,  and  other  practices,  it  was  alleged 
he  corrupted  the  minds  of  the  young. 

18.  These  accusations  they  attempted  to  support  by  perverted  state- 
ments of  his  language,  and  by  expressions  detached  from  the  connec- 
tion which  modified  them.  Socrates,  conscious  of  his  moral  purity, 
disdained  to  make  a  labored  defence  of  his  character.  He  neither 
feared  death  nor  respected  his  judges.  Briefly,  and  with  a  noble 
dignity,  he  showed  the  groundlessness  of  the  charges,  and  noticed 
the  services  he  had  rendered  to  the  commonwealth.  But  the  fear- 
lessness and  freedom  with  which  he  spoke,  only  served  to  incense 

to  confound  Socrates?  What  account  has  Plato  left  of  Iheir  disputations?  14.  What 
•if  the  contest  of  Socrates  with  them  ?     15.  What  was  his  peculiar  mode  of  arguins? 

16.  What  was  Socrates  doomed  to  feel?  What  was  the  state  of  Athens  during  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  ?  17.  What  of  the  factions  headed  by  Melitus  ?  Of  what  was  Soc- 
rates accused  ? 

18.  How  did  they  attempt  to  support  these  accusations  ?  What  did  Socrates  disdair 
Id  do?     How  did  he  defend  himself?     To  what  was  he  condemned  ? 


238  PERIOD  III.—  493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 

against   him    his   ignorant  and  prejudiced  judges,  and  he  w«s  con- 
demned, by  a  majority  of  three  voices,  to  die  by  drinking  poison 


,awi 


I 


Socrates  bejore  his  judges 

19.  He  was  then  led  to  prison,  to  await  the  day  appointed  for  his 
death.  Religious  and  moral  feeling,  and  the  invaluable  consolation 
of  a  clear  conscience,  still  supported  him,  and  his  tranquillity  of  mind 
remained  unruffled.  An  accidental  circumstance  delayed  the  execu- 
tion of  his  sentence.  The  day  following  his  condemnation  was  that 
on  which  a  consecrated  vessel  annually  sailed  from  Athens  for  the 
sacred  island  of  Delos,  with  offerings  to  the  god  Apollo,  and,  accord- 
ing to  ancient  usage,  no  execution  could  take  place  until  this  vessel's 
return. 

20.  The  respite  of  thirty  days  which  he  thus  obtained  was  an  im- 
portant delay  for  the  philosopher  and  his  disciples.  Every  morning 
his  friends  assembled  in  his  apartment,  and  he  conversed  with  them 
as  he  was  wont  to  do.  He  encouraged  them  in  the  path  of  virtue, 
instructed  them  in  the  subjects  of  his  investigations,  and  showed  them, 
by  his  own  example,  that  obedience  to  his  precepts  produced  real  hap- 
piness. In  his  hours  of  solitude  he  composed  a  hymn  to  Apollo,  and 
versified  several  of  the  fables  of  ^Esop. 

21.  There  was  a  striking  contrast  between  the  resignation  of  Soc- 
rates and  the  grief  of  his  friends,  at  the  thought  of  their  approaching 
irreparable  loss.  They  formed  a  project  for  his  escape  ;  the  jailer  was 
bribed,  and  nothing  was  wanting  but  the  consent  of  Socrates  himself. 
From  his  known  principles,  it  was  feared   that  this   might   not   be 

19.  How  was  he  supported  in  prison?  What  circumstance  delayed  the  execution  of 
his  sentence?  20.  How  did  he  and  his  disciples  spend  this  respite  ?  How  did  he  pass 
his  hours  of  solitude?  21.  What  plans  were  adopted  for  his  escape?  Who  undertook 
to  pp>-s.iade  Socrates  to  comply  with  their  wishes  ? 


SOCRATES. 


23$ 


jotained ;  but  they  determined  to  make  the  attempt.  Ciito,  his  old 
and  tried  friend,  undertook  the  task  of  endeavoring  to  persuade  him  tr 
comply  with  their  wishes. 

22.  Early  in  the  morning  of  the,  last  day  but  one,  he  visited  Soc- 
rates for  this  purpose.  The  good  man  was  still  asleep.  Crito  sat 
down  softly  by  his  bed,  and  waited  till  he  awoke.  He  then  informed 
him  of  the  unanimous  request  of  his  friends,  urging  every  motive 
which  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  Socrates  suggested,  especially 
the  care  of  his  family,  to  induce  him,  if  possible,  to  save  his  life. 
Socrates  permitted  him  to  finish,  and  thanked  him  for  this  proof  of  his 
affection,  but  declared  that  flight  was  wholly  irreconcilable  with  his 
principles 


Death  of  Socrates. 

23.  At  length  tne  fatal  day  dawned  on  which  he  was  to  drink  the 
poison.  His  family  and  friends  assembled  early  to  spend  the  last 
hours  with  him.  Xanthippe,  his  wife,  was  much  affected,  arid  ex- 
pressed her  griee  by  ]oud  cries.  Socrates  made  a  sign  to  Crito  to 
have  her  removed,  as  he  wished  to  spend  his  last  moments  in  tran- 
quillity. He  then  talked  with  his  friends,  first  about  his  verses  ;  next 
concerning  suicide,  of  which  he  strongly  disapproved  ;  and,  lastly, 
concerning  the  immortality  of  the  soul  —  a  doctrine  in  which  he  had 
the  firmest  belief. 


22.  How  did  he  endeavor  to  induce  him  to  save  Ills  life  ?     Did  he  succeed  ?    23,  24,  /15. 


?4i)  PERIOD  III.  — 493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C 

24.  He  spoilt  the  greater  part  of  the  day  in  these  interesting  dis 
eussions,  and  spoke  with  so  much  animation  and  confidence  of  his 
expectations  of  enjoying  the  happy  society  of  the  good  and  the  great 
in  the  future  world,  that  to  his  friends  he  appeared  to  be  already  more 
like  a  glorified  spirit  than  a  dying  man. 

25.  The  approach  of  twilight  at  length  admonished  him  that  the 
appointed  hour  had  arrived.  He  asked  for  the  cap  ;  and  when  he  took 
it  in  his  hand,  his  friends  were  so  overcome  with  grief,  that  they  burst 
into  tears  and  loud  lamentations.  Socrates  alone  was  calm.  He 
drank  the  hemlock  slowly,  and  then  consoled  his  friends  as  he  walked 
up  and  down  the  apartment. 

26.  When  it  became  difficult  to  walk,  he  lay  down  upon  the  couch, 
and,  before  his  heart  ceased  to  beat,  exclaimed,  "  My  friends,  we  owe 
a  cock  —  the  emblem  of  life  —  to  ^Esculapius,"  —  the  god  of  medicine 
—  thus  evincing  in  his  last  moments  his  wish  to  honor  the  religious 
usages  of  his  country.  He  then  covered  his  head  with  his  cloak,  and 
expired,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age,  (400  B.  C.) 


^^*s*r<-    — -o- 


** 


The  young  Spartan  at  the  tomb  oj  Socratet 


27.  Soon  after  his.  death,  his  fickle-minded  countrymen  repented  of 
their  harshness  towards  him,  acknowledged  his  innocence,  and  re- 
garded their  misfortunes  as  a  punishment  for  the  injustice  with  which 
they  had  treated  him.  They  reversed  his  sentence,  put  his  accusers 
to  death,  banished  others  who  had  conspired  to  destroy  him,  and 
raised  a  statue  of  brass  to  his  honor.  So  much  was  his  memory 
revered,  that  the  various  philosophic  sects  which  subsequently  arose, 
all  claimed  to  be  sprung  from  his  school,  and,  even  while  they  rejected 
or  misrepresented  his  doctrines,  were  proud  to  be  distinguished  by  his 
name. 

What  of  the  last  hours  of  his  life?  26.  What  were  his  last  words?  His  death?  27. 
How  did  his  countrymen  regard  him  after  his  death  ?  How  did  they  testify  their  respect 
for  his  memory  ?    28,  29.  Relate  the  story  f  f  the  Spartan  youth  at  the  tomb  of  Socrates 


ARTISTS  OF  THE  THIRD  PERIOD.  24 1 

28.  An  affecting  incident,  connected  with  the  death  of  Socrates,  is 
preserved  by  history.  A  Sirartan  youth,  whr  had  hean1  of  his  fame 
and  character,  had  such  a  desire  to  see  the  philosopher,  that  he  trav- 
elled to  Athens  on  foot  for  that  purpose.  When  he  reached  the  gates 
of  the  renowned  city,  his  mind  being  full  of  the  object  of  his  journey, 
he  inquired  for  Socrates. 

29.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  his  honor  and  his  grief  to  hear  that 
he  had  died  by  the  decree  of  his  countrymen.  Turning  from  the  city, 
he  inquired  for  the  tomb  of  Socrates.  Thither  he  went,  and  as  he 
reached  the  spot  he  burst  into  tears.  At  night,  he  slept  upon  the 
tomb,  and  in  the  morning  took  his  mournful  departure  for  Laconia 


CHAPTER  XCI. 

Arts.  —  Artists  of  the  Third  Period. 

1.  The  fine  arts  took  their  rise  at  so  early  an  age,  that  their  origin 
is  not  recorded.  But  although  they  were  cultivated  with  a  consider- 
able degree  of  success  in  very  early  times,  particularly  by  the  Egyp- 
tians and  Phoenicians,  it  was  reserved  for  the  Greeks  to  invest  them 
with  ineffable  grace  and  beauty,  and  to  raise  them  to  a  perfection  of 
which  the  world  had  previously  seen  no  example,  and  which  succeed- 
ing ages  have  in  vain  endeavored  to  surpass. 

2.  The  Grecian  race  appear  to  have  possessed  an  exquisite  sense 
of  the  grand  and  beautiful ;  and  their  fine  taste,  stimulating  and  guid- 
ing their  brilliant  genius,  enabled  them  to  confer  on  arts,  which  at  first 
had  been  merely  mechanical,  all  the  charms  and  dignity  of  poetry. 

3.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  fine  climate,  the  bright  sun,  and 
azure  skies,  the  fair  and  blooming  vales,  the  majestic  hills,  and  the 
romantic  shores  and  islands  of  Greece,  and  the  other  countries  skirting 
the  iEgean  and  Mediterranean  Seas,  exercised  no  small  share  of  influ- 
ence over  the  imaginations  of  the  naturally  ardent  and  excitable  people 
who  inhabited  those  favored  regions,  and  contributed  to  direct  their 
attention  to  the  study  and  improvement  of  those  arts  which  imitate 
nature. 

4.  Ionia,  the  birth-place  of  Grecian  literature  and  science,  was  also 
the  scene  of  the  earliest  triumphs  of  Grecian  art.  While  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  parent  country  was  retarded  by  an  endless  series  of  revolu 
tions  and  internal  feuds,  its  colonies  on  the  fertile  coast  of  Asia  Minor 
were  rapidly  advancing  in  wealth  and  prosperity,  and  finding  leisure 
to  cultivate  the  arts  and  sciences.  Thus,  we  find  that  so  far  back  as 
the  eighth  century  J3.  C,  when  European  Greece  was  still  immersed  in 

XCI.  —  1.  What  of  the  early  origin  of  the  fine  arts?  The  Egyptians  and  Phoenicians'* 
What  was  reserved  for  the  Greeks  ?  2.  What  of  the  taste  of  the  Greeks?  3.  What  cir- 
sumstances  must  have  had  an  influence  in  directing  their  attention  to  these  arts? 

4.  What  of  the  colonies  of  Ionia?  Their  advancement  in  refinement  ?  5.  The  Ionic 
order  qf  architecture?     TVmiins  an<*  sculpture?     Where  did  the  philosophy  and  ar'.» 

19 


'i42  PERIOD  HI.— 493  B.  C.  TO  404  B.  C. 

barbarism,  the  cities  of  Ionia  had  already  become  the  seats  of  refine- 
ment and  taste. 

5.  It  was  there  that  the  Ionic  order  of  architecture  was  invented  ; 
there  painting  and  sculpture,  of  a  refined  character,  may  be  said  to 
have  first  been  practised.  But,  together  with  its  poetry  and  philoso- 
phy, the  arts  of  Ionia  gradually  found  their  way  into  elder  Greece,  as 
well  as  into  the  flourishing  colonies  established  in  Italy  and  Sicily. 

6.  At  the  time  of  the  Persian  invasion,  Greece  is  said  to  have  pos- 
sessed a  hundred  ivory  statues  of  the  gods,  all  of  which  were  of  colos- 
sal size,  and  many  were  covered  over  with  gold.  It  also  boasted  of 
many  magnificent  temples  and  other  public  buildings,  constructed  01 
the  finest  marble. 

7.  It  was  not  till  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Persians,  that  Greece 
began  to  lead,  instead  of  following,  its  colonies  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  arts.  Athens,  which  the  barbarian  hordes  of  Xerxes  had  left  a 
heap  of  smouldering  ruins,  was,  by  the  able  and  liberal  policy  of  The- 
mistocles,  Cimon,  and  Pericles,  rendered,  in  the  incredibly  short  space 
of  forty  years,  the  most  magnificent  city  in  the  world,  and  enriched 
with  the  most  splendid  specimens  of  ornamental  art  that  have  ever 
been  produced  in  any  age  or  country. 

8.  The  Parthenon,  which  was  constructed  at  this  period,  still  re- 
mains entire,  after  the  lapse  of  about  two  thousand  three  hundred 
years,  and  bears  ample  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  accounts  which 
have  been  transmitted  of  the  elegance  and  grandeur  of  Grecian  archi- 
tecture. This  noble  temple  was  dedicated  to  Minerva,  the  tutelary 
goddess  of  Athens,  and  was  built  of  beautiful  white  marble.  It  is  of 
the  Doric  order,  and  measures  two  hundred  and  seventeen  feet  in 
length. 

9.  The  area  of  the  Acropolis,  or  citadel  of  Athens,  in  which  the 
Parthenon  stands,  was  anciently  adorned  with  many  magnificent  por- 
ticos and  other  public  buildings,  and  the  whole  of  its  extent,  although 
above  six  miles  in  circumference,  was  so  diversified  by  works  of  paint- 
ing and  statuary,  that  it  is  described  as  having  exhibited  one  continued 
scene  of  elegance  and  beauty. 

10.  Nor  were  such  splendid  proofs  of  the  perfection  of  Grecian 
architecture  to  be  met  with  in  Athens  alone,  although  it  was  there 
that  they  were  crowded  in  exhaustless  abundance.  Elis,  Delphi, 
Corinth,  Eleusis,  Argos,  and  many  other  cities  possessed  temples 
rivalling  in  extent  and  majestic  beauty  those  of  the  imperial  city  of 
Minerva. 

11.  The  temple  of  Olympian  Jupiter,  at  Elis,  was  two  hundred  .and 
thirty  feet  long,  and  sixty-eight  feet  high.  It  was  of  the  Doric  order, 
and  was  surrounded  by  a  splendid  colonnade,  adorned  with  the  most 
elaborate  sculpture.  In  the  interior  was  a  statue  of  Jupiter,  no  less 
rhan  sixty  feet  in  height. 


of  Ionia  gradually  make  their  way?  6.  What  of  the  statues  anil  temples  of  Greece  at 
the  lime  of  the  Persian  invasion  ? 

7  What  of  the  state  of  the  fine  arts  in  Greece,  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Persians  ? 
The  city  of  Athens?  8.  What  of  the  Parthenon?  To  whom  was  it  dedicated?  Its 
.en-rth  ?    9    Area  of  the  Acropolis? 

10.  In  what  other  cities  were  there  t.o  be  found  proofs  of  the  perfection  of  Grecian  ar 


ARTISTS  OF  THE  THIRD  PERIOD.  243 

12.  This  colossal  statue  was  the  workmanship  of  the  celebrated 
Phidias.  It  was  formed  of  gold  and  ivory,  and  represented  the  king 
of  the  gods  seated  on  a  lofty  throne  of  ivory  and  ebony,  inlaid  with 
precious  stones,  and  ornamented  with  the  most  beautiful  sculptures 
and  paintings,  exhibiting  some  of  the  most  striking  and  poetical 
adventures  of  the  gods. 

13.  A  crown  of  olive  encircled  the  head  of  the  image  ;  the  right 
hand  held  an  emblem  of  victory,  and  the  left  a  burnished  sceptre. 
The  flowing  robes  were  embellished  with  flowers  and  figures  of  ani- 
mals wrought  in  gold.  Other  temples,  if  not  so  richly  adorned, 
were  much  more  extensive  than  that  of  Elis :  the  temple  of  Ceres 
and  Proserpine  at  Eleusis,  which  was  built  about  the  same  time,  was 
so  large  that  it  could  contain  thirty  thousand  individuals. 

14.  Under  the  rule  of  Pericles,  (from  458  to  429  B.  C.,)  sculpture 
and  architecture  attained  their  perfection.  It  was  then  that  Phidia3 
executed  those  splendid  works  which  excited  the  admiration  of  the 
world,  and  which  succeeding  artists  have  in  vain  endeavored  to  rival. 
Besides  the  statue  of  Jupiter  described  above,  this  great  sculptor 
formed  many  beautiful  statues  of  gods  and  heroes  to  adorn  the  princi- 
pal temples  of  Greece. 

15.  But  the  most  admired  of  all  his  performances  was  the  colossal 
figure  of  Minerva,  erected  in  the  Parthenon  at  Athens.  This  statue 
was  twenty-six  cubits  —  about  thirty-nine  feet  —  high,  and  was  made 
of  ivory  and  gold  ;  the  quantity  of  the  latter  which  was  employed  in  its 
composition  being  no  less  than  forty  talents  —  about  forty  thousand 
dollars. 

16.  Another  of  his  statues  of  Minerva,  composed  of  bronze,  and 
erected  in  the  same  city,  was  still  larger  than  this ;  and  its  spear  and 
crest  could  be  perceived  from  the  promontory  of  Sunium,  a  distance 
of  twenty-five  miles.  Although  painting  did  not  arrive  so  rapidly  at 
maturity  as  sculpture,  it  made  very  considerable  advancement  in  the 
period  now  under  review,  and  the  works  of  Panaenus,  the  brother  of 
Phidias,  Parrhasius,  Polyanotus,  Micon,  and  other  artists  who  flour- 
ished about  this  time,  were  held  in  high  estimation. 

chiteciure?     11.  Descri he  the  temple  of  Olympian  Jupiter.     12,  The  statue  of  Jupiter? 
13.  The  temple  of  Ceres  and  Proserpine? 

14.  Under  whose  rule  did  sculpture  and  architecture  attain  perfection?  The  wnrk* 
of  Phidias?  15.  His  statue  of  Minerva?  16.  The  htonze  statue  of  Minerva?  At  \v\ni 
Jisl  ince  co  jld  its  spear  and  crest  he  seen  ?     What  of  painting;  at  this  period  1 


244  PERIOD  IV.  — 401  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  U. 


PERIOD    IV. 


FROM    THE    CAPTURE    OF    ATHENS    BY    THE   LACEDjEMONIANS,  404    B     <\, 
TILL    THE    SUBJUGATION    OF    GREECE    BY    THE    ROMANS,   146    B.    C 


CHAPTER  XCII. 

The  Thirty  Tyrants.  —  The  Council  of  Ten. 

1.  After  the  surrender  of  Athens  to  Lysander,  the  democratical 
constitution  was  abolished,  and  the  government  was  entrusted  by  the 
Spartans  to  thirty  persons,  whose  oppressive,  rapacious,  and  bloody 
administration  ere  long  procured  tor  them  the  title  of  the  "  Thirty 
Tyrants."  These  unjust  and  cruel  men  unscrupulously  put  to  death 
all  whom  they  supposed  friendly  to  free  institutions,  or  who  possessed 
wealth  to  confiscate. 

2.  So  numerous  were  the  executions  in  the  city,  that  a  greater 
number  of  the  Athenians  perished  during  the  eight  months  in  which 
the  Thirty  Tyrants  bore  sway,  than  during  the  severest  ten  years  of 
the  Peloponnesian  war.  Multitudes  of  the  Athenians  fled  from  their 
blood-stained  city,  and  sought  refuge  in  Bteotia,  and  other  neighbor- 
ing states. 

3.  A  small  body  of  these  refugees,  having  resolved  to  make  an  effort 
for  the  emancipation  of  their  countrymen,  placed  themselves  under  the 
direction  of  Thrasybulus,  an  able  Athenian  general,  then  living  in 
exile  in  Bceotia,  and  seized  upon  the  fortress  of  Phyle,  on  the  north- 
eastern frontier  of  Attica,  which  immediately  became  the  rallying 
point  for  the  friends  of  Athenian  freedom. 

4.  Thrasybulus  soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  seven  hundred 
men,  with  whom  he  surprised  and  discomfited  a  body  of  troops  which 
the  Thirty  Tyrants  had  sent  against  him.  This  success  encouraged 
numbers  of  the  citizens  to  flock  to  his  standard,  and  he  speedily  found 
himself  strong  enough  to  attempt  the  deliverance  of  Athens  itself. 

b.  The  walls  of  Piraeus  having  been  demolished,  conformably  to 
the  terms  of  the  late  capitulation,  he  easily  obtained  possession  of 
that  suburban  port,  defeating  the  forces  of  the  Tyrants  who  endeavored 
to  arrest  his  progress.  The  unexpected  success  of  Thrasybulus  filled 
the  Thirty  and  their  unprincipled  supporters  with  dismay,  and  not 
without  reason ;  for,  shortly  after,  the  citizens,  emboldened  by  what 

XCII.  —  l.  What  of  the  government  of  Athens  after  its  surrender  to  Lysander?  The 
'Thirty  Tyrants?"  2.  What  of  the  number  of  executions  in  the  city  ?  Whsre  did 
many  of  the  Athenians  take  refuse  ?  3.  What  of  the  effort  made  for  the  emancipation  of 
the  Athenians?    The  fortress  of  Phyle? 

4.  What  number  of  men  was  Thrasybulus  at  the  head  of?  What  did  he  soon  find  him- 
self strong  enough  to  do?  5.  How  did  he  obtain  possession  ofPiraJua?  Hissuccesj* 
What  of  the  deposition  of  the  Tyrants?    Their  successors  .< 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  TEN.  245 

had  taken  place,  rose  in  open  revolt,  and,  deposing  the  Tyrants,  ap- 
pointed a  council  of  ten  persons,  in  their  stead,  to  administer  the  gov- 
ernment provisionally,  and  to  affect  an  accommodation  with  Thrasy- 
bulus  and  his  followers  in  Piraeus. 

6.  But  the  Council  of  Ten  had  no  sooner  been  invested  with  author- 
ity, than  its  members  began  to  exhibit  a  spirit  as  adverse  to  popular 
rights  as  that  which  had  animated  the  deposed  Thirty  ;  and  instead  of 
endeavoring  to  bring  about  a  general  reconciliation  of  parties,  they 
sent  ambassadors  to  Sparta  to  solicit  aid  in  putting  down  the  insur- 
rection of  Thrasybulus. 

7.  Messengers  arrived  there  about  the  same  time,  bearing  a  similar 
request  from  the  Thirty  Tyrants,  who,  after  their  deposition,  had 
retired  to  Eleusis.  The  Lacedaemonians  readily  complied  with  the 
requests  made  to  them,  and  sent  Lysander  with  a  considerable  force 
to  compel  the  Athenians  to  submit  to  the  same  oligarchical  govern- 
ment which  he  himself  had  formerly  established  among  them. 

8.  This  skilful  commander  immediately  proceeded  to  blockade 
Piraeus  by  sea  and  land,  and  must  soon  have  obliged  Thrasybulus  to 
capitulate,  had  not  a  party  hostile  to  Lysander  obtained,  at  this  crit- 
ical juncture,  the  ascendency  in  the  councils  of  Lacedaemon.  Anxious 
to  prevent  him  from  acquiring  a  second  time  the  glory  of  conquering 
the  Athenians,  this  faction  got  Pausanias  appointed  to  the  chief  com- 
mand of  the  army  in  Attica,  whither  he  immediately  proceeded  at  the 
head  of  a  large  army. 

9.  On  his  arrival  before  Piraeus,  he  soon  showed  an  indisposition 
to  continue  a  war  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  replacing  the  parti- 
sans of  Lysander  in  an  authority  which  they  had  so  grossly  abused, 
and,  with  his  sanction  and  concurrence,  a  treaty  was  concluded  be- 
tween the  Athenians  in  the  city  and  those  holding  Piraeus. 

10.  The  chief  conditions  of  this  pacification  were,  the  pardon  of 
past  offences,  and  the  reestablishment  of  the  democratic^  institutions 
of  Athens.  From  the  general  amnesty,  the  Thirty  Tyrants,  the 
members  of  the  Council  of  Ten,  and  a  few  other  individuals  who  had 
rendered  themselves  notorious  for  their  abandoned  profligacy  and 
atrocious  cruelty  during  the  late  reign  of  terror,  were  excluded  ;  but 
with  a  clemency  which  they  had  never  shown  to  others,  they  were 
permitted  to  reside,  in  safety  at  Eleusis. 

11.  Ungrateful  for  the  mercy  shown  to  them,  these  bad  men  soon 
began  to  form  new  schemes  for  the  subversion  of  the  popular  govern- 
ment ;  and  at  last  the  Athenians,  hearing  that  they  were  raising  a 
body  of  mercenary  troops  to  be  employed  against  the  public  liberties, 
marched  to  Eleusis,  and  put  the  Tyrants  and  their  principal  supporters 
:o  death. 

3.  What  was  the  first  act  of  the  Council  of  Ten  ?  7.  What  other  messengers  arrived 
at  Sparta  at  the  same  time?  What  did  the  Lacedaemonians  do?  8.  What  did  Lysander 
immediately  proceed  to  do?  What  circumstance  prevented  him?  Who  was  appointed 
in  the  command  of  the  army  in  Attica? 

9.  What  did  Pausanias  do  on  his  arrival  at  Piraeus?     10.  What  were  the  conditions 
of  the  treaty?     Who  were  excluded  from  the  amnesty?     What,  however,  were  they 
permitted  to  do?     11.  What  at  iast  became  of  the  tyrants? 
21* 


246  PERIOD  IV.— 404  B.  C.  TO   I  AG  3.  C 

CHAPTER  XCIII. 
Cyrus. — Artaxerxes.  —  Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand  Greeks. 

1.  The  immediate  result  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  was  the  trans- 
fer to  Sparta  of  that  political  ascendency  which  had  previously  been 
possessed  by  Athens,  and  for  some  time  the  Lacedaemonians  exercised 
an  almost  unlimited  authority  over  the  rest  of  Greece. 

2.  In  the  latter  part  of  their  contest  with  Athens  they  had  been  in 
close  alliance  with  Persia,  and  the  pecuniary  aids  which  they  had 
received  from  that  power  had  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  triumph 
of  their  arms,  by  enabling  them  to  pay  and  provision  the  large  sea 
and  land  force  which  they  were  obliged  to  maintain. 

3.  But  the  countenance  and  support  which  they  gave  to  Cyrus,  a 
prince  of  the  blood-royal  of  Persia,  who,  in  the  year  401  B.  C., 
unsuccessfully  attempted  to  wrest  the  sceptre  from  his  elder  brother, 
Artaxerxes  Mnemon,  led  to  a  renewal  of  the  ancient  hostility  between 
the  Greeks  and  Persians. 

4.  Cyrus  had  been  appointed  satrap  of  a  large  and  important  prov- 
ince in  Asia  Minor,  comprehending  Lydia,  Phfygia,  and  Cappadocia. 
Having  repaired  to  Susa  to  see  his  father,  Darius  Nothus,  in  his  last 
illness,  he  was,  after  that  king's  death,  thrown  into  prison  by  his 
brother,  Artaxerxes  Mnernoji,  on  an  accusation  of  treason,  but  was 
soon  after  liberated  by  the  influence  of  Parysatisj  the  queen-mother, 
and  allowed  to  return  to  his  government  in  Asia  Minor. 

5.  Cyrus  possessed  many  excellent  qualities,  both  of  head  and 
heart,  but  his  character  appears  to  have  had  one  serious  defect :  he 
could  not  forgive  an  injury.  He  burned  to  be  avenged  on  Artaxerxes 
for  the  harshness  and  injustice  with  which  he  had  been  treated,  and 
he  immediately  began  to  make  secret  preparations  to  rebel  against  his 
brother's  authority,  with  the  intention  of  supplanting  him  on  the 
throne. 

6.  In  compliance  with  the  request  of  Cyrus  that  they  would  assist 
him  in  his  present  undertaking,  in  requital  of  the  aid  he  had  given 
them  in  their  war  with  Athens,  the  Lacedaemonians  sent  him  a  body 
of  eight  hundred  heavy-armed  men,  and  ordered  their  admiral  on  the 
Ionian  station  to  cooperate  with  the  fleet  of  Cyrus,  and  act  in  obedi- 
ence to  his  directions. 

7.  They,  at  the  same  time,  granted  that  prince  permission  to  raise 
recruits  in  all  parts  of  Greece,  so  that  it  was  not  long  till  he  had 
collected  a  force  of  about  thirteen  thousand  Grecian  mercenaries, 
above  ten  thousand  of  whom  were  heavy-armed,  and  the  remainder 

XCIII.  —  1.  What  was  the  immediate  result  of  the  Peloponnesian  war?  2.  What  ha-i 
the  alliance  of  the  Spartans  with  Persia  enahled  them  to  do?  3.  What  circumstance 
renewed  the  hostility  between  the  Greeks  and  Persians?     Who  was  Cyrus? 

4.  To  what  office  had  Cyrus  been  appointed  ?  What  happened  to  Cyrus  ?  His  libera- 
tion?   5.  What  of  the  character  of  Cyrus?    For  what  did  he  make  secret  preparations  ? 

6  What  assistance  did  the  Lacedaemonians  send  Cyrus?  What  order  was  given  to 
their  admiral?  7.  What  permission  did  they  also  grant  Cyrus?  What  army  did  ru» 
sollect?     WhatofSardis?    8.   What  of  Xenophon's  account  af  this  expedition? 


ADVANCE  CF  CYRUS. 


24? 


targeteers.  At  Sardis,  the  capital  of  Lydia,  the  Greeks  joined  the 
main  body  of  Cyrus'  troops,  consisting  of  a  hundred  thousand  Asiatics  ; 
ind  soon  after  the  whole  army,  led  by  the  prince  in  person,  com- 
menced its  march  towards  Upper  Asia. 


Cyrus  marching  to  Sardis. 

8.  Xenophon,  who  has  already  been  mentioned  as  one  of  the  dis- 
ciples of  the  philosopher  Socrates,  accompanied  this  expedition  in  the 
character  of  a  volunteer,  and  afterwards  wrote  an  account  of  it,  which 
is  still  extant,  under  the  name  of  Zenophon's  Anabasis,  and  is  univer- 
sally admitted  to  be  one  of  the  most  masterly  and  beautiful  pieces  of 
narration  ever  composed. 

9.  After  advancing  for  above  one  thousand  five  hundred  miles  with- 
out meeting  with  any  serious  opposition,  the  army  of  Cyrus  encoun- 
tered that  of  his  brother  Artaxerxes  on  the  plain  of  Cunaxa,  about  a 

°     What  of  the  first  mee  ing  with  the  king's  army  ?     10.  What  of  the  equipments  of 


24S 


riiRIOD  IV.— 404  B.  C    10   140  B.  I 


day's  journey  from  Babylon.  At  first  the  approach  of  the  king's 
troops  was  only  intimated  by  the  rising  of  a  vast  cloud  of  dust,  but  as 
they  drew  nearer,  the  flashing  arms  and  the  extended  ranks  began  to 
be  indistinctly  perceived,  and  at  length  the  magnificent  array  of  the 
royal  host  was  fully  revealed. 

10.  In  the  van  were  a  hundred  and  fifty  chariots  armed  with  scythes 
projecting  in  various  directions,  and  behind  These  could  be  distinguished 
the  white  corslets  of  the  cavalry,  the  wicker  bucklers  of  the  chosen 
Persian  infantry,  the  tall  wooden  shields  of  the  Egyptians,  and  the 
numerous  columns  of  light-armed  troops  collected  from  every  nation 
acknowledging  the  authority  of  the  Persian  monarch. 

11.  An  engagement  immediately  took  place.  The  Greeks,  who 
were  posted  on  the  right  of  Cvrus'  army,  defeated  that  portion  of 


Artaxerxes'  forces  to  which  tjicy  were  opposed  ;  but  the  advantages 
of  this  triumph  were  lost,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  Cyrus  him- 
self, who  was  killed  while  endeavoring,  with  imprudent  and  unnatural 
eagerness,  to  take  away  his  brother's  life. 

12.  Perceiving  Artaxerxes,  surrounded  by  his  guards,  he  darted 
forward,  exclaiming,  "I  see  the  man!"  and  hewing  down  all  who 
opposed  his  advance,  he  darted  his  javelin  at  the  king,  and  wounded 
him  in  the  breast,  but  at  the  same  instant  received  a  severe  wound  in 
ihe  face,  and  .vas  speedily  overpowered  and  killed.  His  head  was 
then  cut  off  and  exposed  to  the  view  of  both  armies — an  exhibition 
which  so  much  disheartened  his  troops,  that  they  immediately  gave 
up  the  conflict,  and  withdrew  from  the  field. 

this  army?  II.  What  immediately  took  place?  How  were  the  a.-vantages  of  the  tri 
umph  of  the  Greeks  lost  ?     12.  What  of  the  death  of  Cyrus  ? 


SEIZURE  OF  THE  GREEK   GENERALS.  249 

13.  1  •vas  not  till  the  following  day  that  the  Greeks,  who,  after 
defeating  ihe  left  wing  of  Artaxerxes'  army,  had  pursued  the  fugitives 
to  a  distance  of  some  miles,  heard  of  the  death  of  Cyrus.  Flushed 
with  recent  success,  they  were  unwilling,  even  after  they  were  made 
aware  that  they  had  lost  their  leader,  to  abandon  an  enterprise  of  which 
they  had  formed  such  magnificent  expectations  ;  and  they  endeavored 
to  induce  Ariaeus,  on  whom  the  command  of  Cyrus"  Asiatic  troops  had 
now  devolved,  to  continue  the  war  against  Artaxerxes,  by  promising 
him  an  easy  victory,  and  the  throne  of  Persia  as  its  reward. 

14.  But  Ariaeus  was  well  aware  that  all  probability  of  bringing  the 
enterprise  to  a" successful  termination  had  been  lost  together  with  the 
life  of  Cyrus,  and  he,  therefore,  declined  their  flattering  offers,  inviting 
them  at  the  same  time  to  accompany  him  in  the  retreat  which  he  in- 
tended immediately  to  commence  towards  Ionia. 

15.  The  Greeks  reluctantly  consented,  and  the  retreat  was  begun 
accordingly,  the  route  chosen  being  one  stretching  almost  directly 
northward,  along  the  banks  of  the  river  Tigris.  By  the  command  of 
Artaxerxes,  Tigsaphernes,  one  of  his  satraps,  soon  after  solicited  a 
conference  with  the  Grecian  leaders,  and  undertook  to  give  them  a 
safe  conduct  to  the  coast,  and  to  furnish  them  with  provisions  during 
the  journey,  provided  they  would  abstain  from  any  further  acts  of  hos- 
tility, and  return  home  as  speedily  as  possible. 

16.  He  at  the  same  time  entered  into  a  secret  negotiation  with 
Ariaeus,  and,  by  threats  and  promises,  induced  him  to  renew  his  alle- 
giance to  Artaxerxes,  and  to  assist  in  the  king's  schemes  for  harass- 
ing, and,  if  possible,  destroying  the  Greeks.  At  length,  when  the 
retreating  army  had  reached  the  banks  of  the  river  Zabatus,  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Tigris,  the  treacherous  Tissaphernes  carried  into  execution 
the  nefarious  designs  he  had  for  some  time  meditated. 

17.  Having  enticed  into  his  tent  Clearchus,  the  Grecian  commander- 
in-chief,  together  with  four  other  generals,  and  a  number  of  inferior 
officers,  under  the  pretext  of  holding  a  conference,  he  caused  them  to 
be  apprehended,  and  their  attendants  who  remained  outside  the  tent  to 
be  massacred. 

18.  He  then  sent  Ariaeus  to  announce  to  the  Greeks  that  Clearchus 
had  been  put  to  death  for  having  violated  the  treaty  with  the  Persian 
monarch,  but  that  the  other  commanders  were  safe.  The  fate  of  these 
unfortunate  officers  long  remained  a  mystery,  but  it  was  at  last  ascer- 
tained that  they  were  sent  by  Tissaphernes  to  Artaxerxes,  by  whose 
orders  the  whole  of  them  were  executed. 

19.  The  Greeks  were  thrown  into  the  utmost  consternation  at  being 
thus  deprived  of  their  leaders  in  the  midst  of  a  hostile  country,  and  at 
so  great  a  distance  from  their  native  land ;  but  the  difficulties  and 
dangers  which  appalled  ordinary  minds,  only  served  to  awaken  tho 

l?  When  did  the  Greeks  h<^ar  of  the  death  of  Cyrus?  Why  were  they  unwilling  to 
"elinqaish  the  enterprise?  What  offer  did  they  make  Ariaeus?  15.  Why  did  he  not 
consent?     What  did  he  invite  ihe  Greeks  to  do? 

15.  What  was  the  route  chosen  for  the  retreat?  What  offer  did  Tissaphernes  make? 
What  negotiation  did  he  enter  into  with  Ariaeus?  At  what  place  did  he  carry  his  design 
into  execution  ?     17.  How  did  he  do  this  ? 

18.  What  message  did  he  send  to  Ariasus?  What  of  the  fate  of  these  commanders? 
19.    What  was  the  effect  of  this  .ipon  the  Greeks?     What  of  Tenophon  •     His  adlresa 


250  PERIOD  IV.— 404  B.  C.  TO    4$  B.  C. 

energies  of  Xenophon,  who,  although  possessed  of  no  other  authority 
in  the  army  than  that  which  superior  talents  confer  in  times  of  emer 
gency,  now  assumed  the  command,  and,  assembling  the  remaining 
officers,  exhorted  them  to  act  with  a  vigor  and  decision  worthy  of  the 
Grecian  name,  reminding  them  of  the  heroic  deeds  of  some  of  their 
ancestors  in  circumstances  no  less  discouraging. 

20.  His  eloquent  address  had  a  powerful  effect  on  the  minds  of  all  who 
heard  it ;  new  officers  were  forthwith  nominated  in  the  place  of  those 
who  had  become  the  victims  of  Tissaphernes,  Xenophon  being  him- 
self elected  general  of  one  of  the  divisions ;  and  the  troops,  forming 
themselves  into  a  hollow  square,  with  the  baggage  in  the  middle 
began  the  famous  march,  entitled  in  history  the  Retreat  of  the  Ten 
Thousand. 


Tin.  h'etftat  of  tht  Ten  Thousand. 

21.  For  some  time  the  Persians  hung  upon  the  rear  of  the  Greeks 
as  they  moved  slowly  toward  the  distant  shores  of  the  Euxine,  and 
harassed  them  with  their  skirmishing  parties,  but  their  fear  of  the 
Grecian  prowess  was  too  great  to  permit,  them  to  venture  a  general 
engagement,  notwithstanding  their  overwhelming  superiority  of  num- 
bers. 

22.  At  length,  after  suffering  great  hardships  from  want  of  pro- 
visions, from  the  attacks  of  the  barbarian  tribes  through  whose  coun- 

jo  the  remaining  commanders?    20.  What  was  immediately  done?     What  is  this  famous 

«etreat  called  ?  ,  .„      ' 

21    The  Persian  army  ?    2P    What  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Greeks?    What  hill  d'd 


KHTREAT  OF  THE  TEN  THOUSAND. 


L>51 


fries  iheir  line  of  march  led  them,  and  from  the  intense  cold  of  an 
Armenian  winter,  the  Greeks  reached  a  hill  named  Mount  Theches, 
from  which  the  Euxine  is  visible,  although  at  the  distance  of  upwards 
of  fifty  miles. 


The  Greeks  beholding  with  delight  the  Evxine  Sea. 

23.  When  the  soldiers,  weary  with  their  long  and  dangerous  jour- 
ney, gained  the  summit  of  this  mountain,  and  the  cheering  prospect 
opened  on  their  view,  they  burst  out  into  a  simultaneous  and  enthusi- 
astic exclamation  of  "  The  sea  !  the  sea  !"  and  embraced  each  other, 
while  tears  of  joy  flowed  from  their  eyes  at  the  thought  of  their 
approach  to  their  homes  and  their  friends. 

24.  A  few  days  more  brought  them  to  the  city  of  Trapezus,  now 
called  Trebizond,  a  Grecian  colony  on  the  shore  of  the  Euxine,  having 
traversed  above  one  thousand  miles  of  a  hostile  and  naturally  difficult 
country  with  surprisingly  little  loss.  At  Cerasus,  another  Grecian 
city  at  which  they  soon  after  arrived,  a  muster  of  the  forces  took  place, 
when  it  was  found  that  of  the  original  ten  thousand  heavy-armed  men, 
eight  thousand  six  hundred  still  survived. 

25.  From  this  place  they  proceeded,  partly  by  land  and  partly  by 
water,  to  the  city  of  Byzaritjum.  It  might  have  been  supposed  that 
they  would  now  have  taken  the  shortest  way  to  their  respective  states, 
but,  instead  of  doing  so,  such  was  their  partiality  for  a  warlike  and 
ldventurous  life,  that  they  first  engaged  in  the  service  of  Sejithss,  a 
prince  of  Thrace,  and  afterwards  joined  the  Lacedaemonian  army  in 
Ionia. 

they  at  last  reach?    23.   What  did  they  do  on  this  hill?     2i.   The  city  of  Trapezus? 
What  number  of  the  troops  survived  to  reach  the  city  of  Cerasus? 

25.  To  what  place  did  they  next  proceed?  In  what  warlike  services  did  they  engage 
twiore  reaching  home  « 


252  PKKIOD  IV.  — 404  B.  C.  TO   146   H.  G 

CHAPTER   XCIV. 
Agesilaus. —  War  with  Persia. 

1 .  Although  Artaxerxes  had  thus  been  successful  in  quellh  g  the 
insurrection  of  Cyrus,  he  did  not  easily  forget  or  forgive  the  assistance 
which  the  Greeks  had  afforded  to  his  brother.  After  harassing  as 
much  as  possible  the  retreat  of  the  auxiliaries  under  Xenophon,  the 
Persian  general,  Tissaphernes,  by  command  of  his  sovereign,  led  his 
forces  against  the  Grecian  settlements  in  Minor  Asia,  with  the  view  of 
taking  revenge  upon  them  for  the  hostile  conduct  of  the  parent  states. 

2.  Sparta  was  naturally  the  principal  object  of  the  jealousy  and 
resentment  of  Artaxerxes ;  for,  besides  having  been  the  chief  abettor 
of  the  designs  of  Cyrus,  that  republic,  by  her  recent  triumphs  over 
Athens  and  her  other  rivals,  had  accumulated  into  her  own  hands 
nearly  the  whole  power  of  Greece,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

3.  This  elevation,  while  it  rendered  Sparta  a  prominent  mark  for 
the  enemy,  fortunately  for  herself  brought  with  it  also  the  means  of 
resisting  aggression,  and  the  Spartans  were  not  slow  in  putting  these 
in  force.  On  receiving  information  of  the  predicament  in  which  their 
Asiatic  allies  and  dependencies  were  placed,  they  immediately  sent  a 
force  to  Ionia,  under  Thimbron,  who  was  joined  by  Xenophon,  with  a 
strong  body  still  remaining  of  the  Ten  Thousand. 

4.  Though  successful  in  regaining  possession  of  Pergamus  and  sev- 
eral other  cities,  Thimbron  was  speedily  recalled,  Dercyllidas  being 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  army  in  his  stead.  The  new  gen- 
eral conducted  the  war  for  some  time  with  ability,  but  he,  in  his  turn, 
had  to  resign  his  office,  though  without  disgrace,  to  a  third  com- 
mander, who  was  no  less  a  person  than  the  joint  occupant  of  the  Spar- 
tan throne,  and  who  ultimately  became  one  of  the  greatest  captains  of 
his  time. 

5.  The  successor  of  Dercyllidas  was  Agesilaus,  who,  on  the  death 
of  his  elder  brother  Agis,  was  elevated  to  the  sovereignty  on  account 
of  his  fine  qualities,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  late  king's  son.  Though 
diminutive  in  person,  and  afflicted  with  lameness,  Agesilaus  was  indeed 
admirably  fitted  to  guide  the  helm  of  power  in  these  stirring  and 
troublous  times. 

6.  Great  vivacity  of  temper  and  energy  of  spirit,  powerful  talents 
and  invincible  resolution,  were  united,  in  him,  with  a  submissive  gen- 
tleness and  docility,  a  power  of  bearing  reprimand  and  of  listening  to 
advice,  which  charmed  his  friends  and  followers,  as  much  as  his  bold 
vehemence  awed  his  enemies  in  the  council  or  in  the  field. 

7.  Such  was  the  character,  even  in  youth,  of  the  prince  who  now 

XCIV.  —  1.  What  of  Artaxerxes?  What  did  Tissaphernes  do  by  his  order?  With 
what  view  was  this  done?  3.  For  what  reason  was  Sparta  the  principal  object  of  the 
resentment  of  Artaxerxes?  3.  What  of  the  means  of  Sparta  of  resisting  aggression  ? 
What  force  did  they  send  to  Ionia? 

4.  Who  was  afterwards  appointed  in  the  place  of  Thimhron?  5.  Who  soon  was 
appointed  general?  What  of  Agesilaus  *  6.  His  character  ?  7.  At  what  place  did  h« 
fix  his  winter  quarters? 


I'HK  WAR   WITH  PERSIA.  -AGESILAUS.  253 

(39fi  13.  C.)  assumed  in  person  the  management  of  the  war  with 
Persia.  Agesilaus,  on  his  arrival,  fixed  his  head  quarters  at  Ephesus. 
and  in  this  city  he  wintered  with  his  forces  during  the  several  cam- 
paigns which  followed. 

8.  The  first  of  these  took  place  in  Phrygia,  and  in  every  encounter 
the  Persians  were  defeated,  while  the  conquerors  loaded  themselves 
with  spoils  of  the  richest  kind.  The  Spartan  leader,  meanwhile,  had 
not  only  to  contend  with  his  foes  in  the  open  field,  but  he  had  likewise 
to  guard  against  the  diplomatic  wiles  of  Tissaphernes,  who,  conscious, 
probably,  of  his  inability  to  cope  with  Agesilaus  in  war,  endeavored  to 
lull  his  vigilance  to  sleep,  by  feigned  proposals  of  peace. 

9.  Agesilaus  was  not  to  be  so  deceived.  He  proceeded  in  his  op- 
erations with  equal  boldness  and  caution,  and  signalized  his  second 
campaign  by  an  important  victory  over  his  adversaries  on  the  banks 
of  the  Pactolus.  This  defeat  ultimately  cost  Tissaphernes  his  life, 
his  irritated  and  ungrateful  sovereign  having  caused  him  to  be  put  to 
death  shortly  after  the  engagement. 

10.  The  satrap  Pharnabasus  succeeded  him  in  his  command,  but 
was  equally  unable  to  oppose  the  conquering  Spartan.  The  career 
of  Agesilaus  in  Asia,  however,  was  t&  length  brought  to  a  close,  by 
causes  over  which  he  had  no  control. 

11.  Aware  of  the  power  of  gold  over  the  proceedings  of  the  Gre- 
cian states,  the  Persians,  during  the  destructive  campaigns  of  Agesi- 
laus, were  unremitting  in  their  endeavors,  by  bribes  and  address,  to 
excite  discontents  against  Sparta,  and  to  subvert  her  interests  among  the 
other  republics  of  Greece.  Venal  hirelings  were  readily  found,  to  un- 
dertake the  task  of  spreading  dissension  throughout  the  confederacy. 

12.  Thebes,  Corinth,  and  Argos,  were  the  cities  where  the  spirit 
of  hostility  to  Sparta  first  openly  showed  itself.  An  offensive  league 
against  that  republic  was  entered,  into,  to  which  Alliens  was  ere  long, 
without  difficulty,  persuaded  to  become  a  party.  The  Lacedaemonians 
on  their  side  prepared  vigorously  for  this  new  civil  war. 

13.  They  assembled  a  considerable  army,  the  chief  command  of 
which  was  entrusted  to  Lysander,  the  former  conqueror  of  Athens. 
This  able  and  tried  general  marched  into  the  Theban  territories,  in 
order  to  close  the  contest  by  a  decisive  stroke,  but  he  was  surprised 
under  the  walls  of  Haliartus  by  the  Thebans,  his  army  routed  and 
himself  slain  on  the  spot. 

14.  This  victory  confirmed  the  courage  of  the  four  allied  cities,  and 
induced  many  of  the  minor  states  to  give  in  their  adhesion  to  the  league 
against  Sparta.  So  alarming  did  the  state  of  affairs  now  appear  to 
the  latter  republic,  that,  shortly  after  the  discomfiture  at  Haliartus. 
messengers  were  sent  to  Agesilaus,  desiring  his  immediate  return  for 
the  defence  of  his  country.  Though  in  the  midst  of  such  successes 
as  led  him  to  meditate  the  subversion  of  the  very  throne  of  Persia,  the 


8.  What  of  his  first  campaign  ?  With  what,  besides  his  open  foe?,  did  he  have  to  con 
•.end?  9.  How  did  he  proceed  in  his  operations?  The  death  of  Tissaphernes?  10.  Whc 
succeeded  him  ?     1 1.  What  did  the  Persians  endeavor  to  do  by  means  of  bribes  ? 

12.  In  what  cities  did  tne  spirit  of  hostility  first  show  itself?  What  of  Athens?  The 
Lacedaemonians?  13.  Who  was  appointed  their  commander  J  What  did  he  do?  Hi§ 
Jeath? 

22 


254  PERIOD  IV.-  404  B.  C.  TO   146  B.  C. 

Spartan  prince  immediately  obeyed  the  order,  (394  B.  C.,)  declaring, 
that  "  a  general  only  deserved  the  name,  when  he  was  guided  by  the 
laws  of  the  country,  and  obeyed  its  magistrates." 

15.  In  one  month,  by  the  same  route  which  had  detained  the  effem 
inate  Xerxes  a  whole  year,  Agesilaus  made  his  way  across  the 
Thracian  Chersonesus  and  the  plains  of  Thessaly,  until  he  reached  the 
Uceotian  territories. 

16.  The  approach  of  so  formidable  a  warrior  did  not  daunt  the  T he- 
bans  and  their  allies.  They  advanced  to  meet  him  ;  and  on  the  plain 
of  Coronaea,  a  city  thirty  miles  distant  from  Thebes,  a  fierce  engage- 
ment took  place,  which  greatly  broke  the  strength  of  both  parties, 
without  leading  to  any  decisive  consequences  in  favor  of  either. 
Agesilaus,  however,  was  left  master  of  the  field,  and  his  countrymen, 
of  course,  claimed  the  victory. 


CHAPTER   XCV. 

Efforts  of  Cnrwn  in  behalf  of  Alliens. 

1.  Almost  at  the  same  moment  while  these  things  were  passing 
on  land,  affairs  of  the  utmost  importance  were  transacted  at  sea.  To 
understand  these  matters,  it  is  necessary  to  revert  to  the  personal  his- 
tory of  Conon,  the  Athenian,  who,  after  his  naval  defeat  at  yEgospot- 
amos,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  retired  to  the  isle 
of  Cyprus,  where  he  spent  some  years  in  a  sort  of  honorable  exile, 
under  the  protection  of  its  friendly  and  virtuous  king,  Evagoras. 

2.  Though  Conon  lived  here  peacefully  and  happily,  his  patriotic 
soul  mourned  incessantly  over  the  fall  of  Athens.  Evagoras,  how- 
ever, was  not  powerful  enough  to  supply  the  necessary  means  for  the 
restoration  of  that  republic  to  its  former  grandeur,  favorable  as  the 
opportunity  seemed  to  be,  while  Sparta  was  occupied  with  her  Asiatic 
wars.  In  these  circumstances,  Conon  resolved  to  apply  for  aid  to 
Artaxerxes. 

3.  Being  supplied  with  recommendations  to  the  Persian  monarch 
by  Evagoras,  who  was  the  Great  King's  tributary,  the  ardent  Athe- 
nian passed  over  to  Asia,  and  held  a  personal  conference  with  Arta- 
xerxes, from  whom  he  easily  procured  as  much  money  as  enabled  him 
to  equip  a  strong  fleet,  manned  chiefly  by  the  Greeks  of  Rhodes  and 
Cyprus.  Over  this  armament,  by  agreement,  Conon  and  the  warlike 
satrap  Pharnabasus  were  placed  in  joint  command. 

4.  Eager  to  retrieve  the  honor  lost  at  ^E^ospotamos,  Conon 
scoured  the  seas  in  quest  of  the  fleet  by  which  the  Spartans  main- 

14  What  was  the  effect  of  this  battle  1  What  message  was  sent  to  A?esilau?  ?  What 
did  he  do?     15.  What  of  his  return  ?     16.  The  aattle  of  Coronaea?    The  result  ? 

XCV.  —  I.  Whnt  in  the  mean  time  was  the  state  of  things  at  sea?  What  of  Conon  ? 
Where  was  he  living?  2.  To  whom  did  Conon  resolve  to  apply  for  aid  ?  3.  What  did 
he  proceed  to  do  ?    What  did  he  obtain  from  Artaxerxes?    Who  commanded  this  arma 


EFFORTS  OF  CONON  IN  BEHALF  OF  ATHENS.  255 

tained  their  rule  over  the  Asiatic  coasts.  The  Lacedaemonian 
squadron  was  met  by  him  near  the  shore  of  Cmdus,  and  sustained 
(394  B.  C.)  a  complete  defeat.  More  than  fifty  galleys  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Conon  and  PhTrrriTibasTTS. 

5.  Conon  did  not  rest  contented  with  the  mere  honor  cf  having 
gained  a  victory,  but  turned  his  success,  and  the  power  which  it 
placed  in  his  hands,  to  the  most  beneficial  account,  both  as  regarded 
the  interests  of  Athens,  and,  seemingly  at  least,  of  Persia.  That  the 
good  of  his  native  country  was  his  sole  object,  became  afterwards 
apparent. 

6.  Profiting  by  the  great  naval  force  at  his  command,  he  found 
little  difficulty  in  detaching  from  the  Spartan  dominion  the  whole 
western  coast  of  Lesser  Asia.  Elevated  in  the  estimation  of  the 
Persians  by  this  service,  he  readily  persuaded  that  power,  staggering 
yet  from  the  heavy  blows  of  Agesilaus,  that  the  best  way  of  sup- 
pressing Sparta  was  to  raise  Athens  to  its  former  ascendency. 

7.  Tn  pursuance  of  this  advice,  Artaxerxes  disbursed  a  large  sum 
of  money  from  his  treasury  to  rebuild  the  walls  and  fortifications  of 
Athens,  and,  with  a  joyful  heart,  Conon  set  sail  with  his  squadron 
for  the  accomplishment  of  this  great  work.  By  the  enthusiastic 
labors  of  the  citizens,  and  the  cooperation  of  the  crews  of  the  fleet 
the  capital  was  restored  to  something  like  its  former  strength  and 
splendor  in  a  very  short  space  of  time. 

8.  When  the  Spartans,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  interval  in 
several  indecisive  skirmishes  with  their  allied  opponents,  heard  of  the 
rebuilding  of  Athens,  then  indeed  were  they  affected  with  the  deepest 
uneasiness  and  alarm.  In  the  anxious  councils  held  on  the  occasion, 
no  way  occurred  to  them  of  putting  a  stop  to  proceedings  so  detrimen- 
tal to  their  interests,  but  by  detaching  Persia  from  its  connection  with 
the  inimical  states. 

9.  They  felt  that  to  turn  the  friendship  of  Artaxerxes  towards 
themselves,  could  only  be  done  by  their  abandoning  for  a  time,  if  not 
forever,  all  prospect  of  regaining  their  Asiatic  possessions ;  yet  this 
sacrifice  seemed  to  them  a  less  evil  than  the  restoration  of  the  Athe- 
nian power.  Accordingly,  they  sent  successive  embassies  to  the  court 
of  Persia,  begging  for  peace  on  the  most  humble  terms. 

10.  The  only  condition,  in  truth,  which  was  made,  on  their  part, 
was  the  withdrawal  of  the  Persian  monarch's  countenance  from 
Athens.  Though  Ahta1cTda*s,  the  chief  emissary  employed  by  the 
Spartans,  was  a  person  of  remarkable  address  and  subtlety,  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  Artaxerxes  would  have  acceded  to  their  requests, 
had  not  Conon  injudiciously  and  prematurely  betrayed  his  true  object 
in  his  dealings  with  Persia. 

11.  After  rebuilding  his  native  city,  the  Athenian  admiral,  having 
still  a  naval  force  at  his  command,  passed  over  to  the  Asiatic  coast, 

4.  The  first  battle?  5,  6.  What  did  Conon  now  do?  What  did  he  persuade  the 
Persians  to  do  ?     7.    What  of  the  rebuilding  of  the  fortifications  of  Athens  ? 

8.  What  of  the  Spartans  when  they  heard  of  this?  What  seemed  to  them  the  only 
way  of  putting  a  stop  to  these  proceedings?  9.  How  could  they  only  obtain  the  friend- 
ship of  Artaxerxes  ?     What  did  they  accordingly  do?     . 

10.  What  was  the  only  condition  made  on  their  part?  Who  was  the  Spartan  emis- 
sary ?    What  may  be  doubted  in  connection  with  this  matter?     11.   What  had  the 


2.V-)  PERIOD  IV  -  401  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  U 

and  endeavored,  by  representing  the  power  and  influence  of  Athens 
as  fully  reestablished,  to  induce  the  Greeks  of  Ionia  and  the  Isles  *o 
acknowledge  once  more  her  supremacy. 

12.  This  was  not  done  with  so  much  secrecy  as  to  escape  the  ears 
of  Antalcidas,  who  made  such  ample  and  dexterous  use  of  the  circum- 
stance at  the  court  of  Persia,  that,  on  Conon's  arrival  there  as  the 
Athenian  envoy,  he  was  put  to  death,  and  the  petition  of  the  Spartans 
acceded  to  by  Artaxerxes.  The  peace  thus  concluded,  (387  B.  C) 
after  several  years  spent  in  negotiation,  is  generally  called  in  history 
the  Peace  of  Antalcidas. 

13.  This  humiliating  peace  forms  an  epoch  in  the  decline  of  the 
Grecian  states.  What  greatly  tended,  about  this  time,  to  reduce  their 
importance,  and  narrow  the  sphere  of  their  politics,  was  the  indepen- 
dence now  attained  by  the  colonies  of  Sicily  and  Cyrenaica.  The 
latter  state,  for  a  long  course  of  years,  waged  obscure  wars  alternately 
with  the  Libyans  and  the  Carthaginians,  until  the  death  of  Alexande: 
the  Great,  (323  B.  C.,)  when  their  territory  was  annexed  to  the 
kingdom  of  Egypt. 

14.  The  independent  history  of  Sicily  was  much  more  brilliant, 
and  lasted  for  a  longer  time.  When  the  internal  dissensions  of  the 
parent  republics  of  Greece  rendered  them  unable  to  extend  a  protect- 
ing hand  to  their  colonies,  the  Carthaginians  profited  by  the  oppor- 
tunity to  attack  Sicily,  the  rich  cities  of  which,  on  several  occasions 
they  pillaged  and  depopulated. 

15.  A  remarkable  man,  Dionysius  the  elder,  at  length  arose,  and 
freed  the  country  (405  B.  C.)  from  foreign  domination.  Usurping 
the  government  himself,  he  subjected  the  Sicilians  to  a  rule  so  capri- 
cious and  severe,  as  acquired  for  him  the  ambiguous  appellation  of 
the  Tyrant.  At  the  same  lime,  he  was  possessed  of  many  and  various 
qualities  of  a  commendable  kind,  a  genius  for  literature  being  the  most 
prominent. 

16.  He  was  a  competitor  for  the  poetical  crown  at  the  Olympic 
games,  and  though  he  was  unsuccessful,  it  is  certain  that  his  verses 
were  highly  esteemed  at  Athens,  a  city  renowned  for  the  impartiality 
of  its  literary  decisions.  After  a  long  reign  he  was  succeeded  by  his 
son,  Dionysius  the  younger,  a  man  of  less  ability  than  the  father,  but 
a  greater  despot. 

17.  In  spite  of  the  counsels  of  the  mild  Dion,  Plato's  disciple,  this 
prince  ran  into  such  excesses  of  misrule,  as  caused  him  to  be  exiled 
to  Corinth,  where  he  was  obliged  to  become  a  schoolmaster  for  his 
bread.  A  succession  of  petty  princes  and  tyrants  afterwards  sprang 
up  in  Sicily,  until  finally  the  island  was  conquered  and  made  a  Roman 
province  (212  B.  C.)  by  Marcellus. 

18.  Before  this  was  accomplished,  a  series  of  extraordinary  efforts 
for  the  protection  of  the  chief  city  had  been  made  by  the  celebrated 

Athenian  admiral  done?  12.  What  use  was  made  of  this  circumstance  at  the  Persian 
court  ?    The  death  of  Conon  ?    What  of  the  peace  that  ensued  ? 

13.  What  circumstance  tended  to  reduce  the  importance  of  the  Grecian  states?  What 
of  Cyrenaica?     14.   What  of  the  history  of  Sicily?    The  Carthaginians? 

15.  Who  was  Dionysius  ?  What  of  him?  His  character?  16.  For  what  crown  did 
he  compete  at  the  Olympic  games?  What  was  thought  of  his  verses  ?  By  whom  was 
he  succeeded?  17  What  ofthe  younger  Dionysius?  What  did  he  afterwards  becom 3  ? 
What  finally  happened  to  Sicily  ? 


OLYNTHIAN   WAR.  25? 

philosopher,  AfChimedes,  who  is  said  to  have  used  hurning  glasses 
and  levers  of  great  power  to  destroy  the  Roman  ships,  although  prob 
ably  some  romance  mingles  with  the  accounts  of  his  transactions.  In 
the  sack  of  the  city  this  eminent  person  was  killed  by  a  Roman  soldier 

19.  The  removal  of  Sicily  from  within  the  sphere  of  Grecian 
influence,  was  of  much  less  importance  to  the  parent  states,  than  the 
similar  loss  which  signalized  the  peace  of  Antalcidas.  By  this  treaty 
which  every  one  of  the  states  found  itself  necessitated  to  accede  to, 
all  the  Greek  settlements  and  cities  of  Lesser  Asia  were  dissevered 
forever  from  their  connection  with  the  mother  country,  which  had 
long  owed  to  them  much  of  its  power  and  influence. 

20.  In  proposing  this  vast  and  ruinous  concession,  as  well  as  in 
framing  the  other  conditions  of  the  treaty,  it  soon  became  apparent 
that  Sparta  had  acted  solely  with  a  view  to  her  own  interests,  and,  to 
serve  these,  had  wilfully  and  permanently  sacrificed  the  general  good 
of  Greece.  With  regard  to  the  Asiatic  cities,  she  had  given  them 
up,  because  experience  had  shown  her,  that,  in  contending  for  their 
possession,  Athens  had,  and  would  always  have,  the  advantage,  from 
its  maritime  situation. 

21.  By  another  condition  of  the  Antalcidan  treaty,  it  was  provided, 
that  all  the  minor  communities  of  Greece  should  be  free  and  indepen- 
dent, in  place  of  being  respectively  attached,  as  formerly,  to  the  skirts 
of  some  larger  state.  By  introducing  this  proviso  into  the  treaty, 
Sparta  artfully  placed  herself  in  the  light  of  a  general  liberator,  and 
won  the  confidence  of  the  parties  thus  seemingly  benefited  through 
her  interference. 

22.  The  consequences  of  this  stroke  of  policy  appeared  shortly  after 
the  treaty  came  into  operation.  The  Spartan  senate  became  the  com- 
mon referee  on  all  occasions  of  petty  discordance  among  the  minor 
states,  and,  of  course,  decided  every  difference  in  the  manner  most 
favorable  to  their  own  ambitious  projects. 

23.  These  projects  comprehended  nothing  less  than  the  virtual 
subjugation  of  all  Greece.  On  seeing  themselves  deprived  of  every 
opportunity  of  conquest  abroad,  the  restless  and  warlike  Lacedaemo- 
nians had  turned  their  thoughts,  not  to  peace  or  rest,  but  to  the 
regaining  and  perfecting  their  ascendency  at  home  ;  and  it  was  in 
this  spirit  that  their  wily  emissary,  Antalcidas,  had  drawn  up  the 
conditions  <)f  the  peace. 


CHAPTER   XCVI. 

The  Olynthicni  War. 

1.  Mantin,ea,  a  flourishing  city  and  republic  of  the  district  ot 
Arcadia,  was  the  first  victim  selected  by  the  Spartans  in  pursuit  of 

IS.  What  of  Archimedes?  19.  What  of  the  removal  of  Sicily  from  Greece  ?  What 
if  the  treaty?  20.  What  soon  became  apparent  in  regard  to  Sparta?  21.  What  vva» 
provided  by  another  condition  of  the  Antalcidan  treaty?  22.  What  were  the  results  of 
this  action  ?     What  were  the  projects  of  Sparta? 

XCVI.  —  1 .  What  of  the  city  of  Mantinsea  ?     Its  defence  against  the  Spartan  army  ? 

17 


2«>S  FERIUI*   IV. -404  RC    TO   146  B  C. 

their  senemesof  acquisition.  Upon  some  slight  pretence  they  led  z\ 
army  (386  B.C.)  against  Mantinaea,  vhich,  after  an  obstinate  and 
protracted  defence,  was  forced  to  capitulate,  and  to  acknowledge  tho 
supremacy  of  the  conquerors. 

2.  The  same  fate  befell  the  little  republic  of  Phlius,  which,  with- 
out bloodshed,  was  forced  by  the  mere  droad  of  her  arms  to  become  a 
submissive  dependent  of  Sparta.  But  another  design,  in  which  this 
ambitious  power  engaged  about  the  same  period,  proved  much  less 
easy  of  execution,  and  far  more  important  in  its  consequences. 

3.  Olynthus,  the  capital  city  of  Crtalritlice,  a  district  situated  in  the 
centre  of  the  Macedonian  and  Thracian  coasts,  had  sprung  up  into 

» wealth  and  power  at  a  time  when  Athens  and  Sparta  were  too  busy 
with  other  matters  to  regard  it  either  with  eyes  of  jealousy  or  cupidity, 
and  had  become  the  centre  of  a  strong  and  flourishing  coalition  in  that 
quarter  of  Greece. 

4.  Malcontents,  however,  were  never  wanting  in  a  country  which 
possessed  so  much  general  freedom  without  general  intelligence. 
Although,  in  organizing  the  strong  confederacy  of  which  it  was  the 
head,  Olynthus  treated  the  minor  states  around  it  with  a  liberality 
very  unusual  in  such  cases,  two  cities  of  the  union,  Acanthus  and 
Apollonia,  thought  proper  to  take  offence  at  some  part  of  the 
Olynthian  policy,  and  sent  an  embassy  to  Sparta,  requesting  protec- 
tion from  what  they  termed  the  "dangerous  ambition"  of  the 
Chalcidian  capital. 

5.  Nothing  could  be  more  consonant  to  the  wishes  of  the  party 
addressed  than  this  request,  as  Olynthus  had  recently  given  deep 
offence  by  entering  into,  or  at  least  seeking  for,  an  alliance  with 
Athens  and  Thebes,  the  two  great  objects,  at  this  time,  of  Lacedae- 
monian jealousy.  Ten  thousand  men  were  voted  (382  B.  C.)  by  the 
senate  of  Sparta  for  the  assistance  of  Acanthus  and  Apollonia,  or,  in 
other  words,  for  the  subjugation  of  Olynthus.  - 

6.  Two  brothers,  EndaTifirJas-and  Prreebtdas^  were  ordered  upon 
this  service,  the  former  to  take  the  field  immediately  with  what  forces 
were  in  readiness,  and  Phoebidas  to  follow  with  the  remainder  of  the 
troops  when  collected.  Eudamidas  marched  accordingly  with  a  band 
of  two  thousand  men  to  the  Chalcidian  district,  and,  in  the  first 
campaign,  gained  some  considerable  successes  over  the  people  of 
Olynthus  ;  but,  having  afterwards  approached  that  city  too  incautiously, 
he  was  intercepted,  slain,  and  his  army  irrecoverably  dispersed. 

7.  Agesilafis,  who  still  occupied  the  throne  of  Sparta, — jointly, 
according  to  custom,  with  another  prince,  Xg^sTpolis,  —  next  sent  his 
brother  TeleutfaS  to  take  the  management  of  this  war  at  the  head  of 
ten  thousand  men.  Teleutias  had  the  fortune  to  defeat  the  Olynthians 
in  several  encounters;  but,  having  advanced,  like  his  predecessor,  to 
the  walls  of  the  city,  he  and  his  army  met  with  a  similar  fate,  the 

2.  What  of  Phlius?  3.  What  of  the  city  of  Olynthus?  Its  prosperity  ?  4.  How  had 
Olynthus  treated  the  minor  states  round  it?  What  of  Acanthus  and  Apollonia?  What 
message  did  they  send  to  Sparta? 

5.  Why  was  their  request  agreeable  to  the  Spartans?  What  force  was  voted  for  theit 
assistance  ?  6.  What  of  Eudamidas  and  Phoebidas  ?  What  was  the  success  of  Eudami 
las'"     His  death? 

7.    Who  was  next  sent  to  take  the  command  of  the  war?     What  was  his  success? 


THEBES.  259 

courage  of  the  citizens  seeming  to  be  thoroughly  roused  when  danger 
threatened  their  household  gods. 

8.  King  Agesipolis  made  the  following  campaign  in  person,  with 
powerful  reinforcements  ;  but  after  having  ravaged  the  territory  of 
the  enemy,  he  was  seized  with  the  fever  called  the  calentyxe,  and  died 
Polybiades  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  army  in  his  place, 
and  this  able  general  was  successful  in  forcing  (399  B.  C.)  the 
Olynthians,  now  shut  up  in  their  capital,  and  worn  out  by  four  years 
of  warfare,  famine,  and  distress,  to  capitulate. 

9.  Absolute  submission  to  Sparta  for  the  time  to  come,  in  peace  or 
•in  war,  constituted  the  tenor  of  the  capitulation.  It  may  be  observed, 
that,  on  this  occasion,  the  Lacedaemonians  introduced  the  barbarians, 
as  they  were  termed,  of  Macedon  into  the  field  of  Grecian  politics, 
taking  assistance  from  their  king,  Amyntas,  and  rewarding  him  at  the 
end  of  the  war  with  a  portion  of  the  territory  wrested  from  Olynthus. 
This  proceeding  was  as  dangerous  as  it  is  said  to  be  to  permit  the 
young  tiger  to  taste  blood. 

10.  It  has  been  mentioned  that,  at  the  outset  of  the  Olynthian 
war,  Phcebidas  was  to  follow  his  brother  Eudamidas  with  the  remain- 
der of  the  men  destined  at  first  for  that  service.  Phcebidas,  in  reality, 
took  the  road  for  the  scene  of  the  contest  with  eight  thousand  men, 
but  was  led  incidentally  to  employ  them  in  a  very  different  manner 
from  that  originally  intended,  and  from  this  circumstance  arose  a  new 
struggle,  which  shook  Greece  to  its  very  centre. 

11.  On  his  journey  northward,  Phcebidas  encamped  with  his  strong 
force  in  the  neighborhood  of  Thebes,  the  Boeotian  capital.  Not  having 
been  exposed  to  the  long  and  severe  drainage  which  had  exhausted 
the  population  and  resources  of  Sparta  and  Athens,  the  city  of  Thebes 

/had  gradually  risen  in  wealth  and  importance,  until  it  had  become 
/  inferior  to  none  of  the  Grecian  states  in  means,  spirit,  and  influence. 
/^*  12.    But,  though  fearless  of  injury  from  without,  it  was  torn  to 
'     pieces  internally  by  the  demon  of  faction  and  discord.     The  demo- 
cratic party,  at  the  head  of  which  was  the  archon  Ismenias,  struggled 
for  ascendency  with  the  favorers  of  aristocracy,  the  leader  of  whom 
was  another  archon,  Leontiades.     The  former  of  these  parties  had  for 
some  time  been  uppermost  in  the  state,  and  their  opponents  looked 
habitually  to  Spartan  assistance  as  the  only  means  of  regaining  their 
lost  ascendency. 

13.  When  Phcebidas  with  his  troops,  therefore,  appeared  acciden- 
tally in  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  the  opportunity  of  crushing  their 
adversaries  struck  the  aristocratical  party  as  too  favorable  to  be  lost 
Leontiades  presented  himself  to  the  Spartan  leader,  and  offered  to  put 
him  in  possession  of  the  Theban  citadel  —  an  offer  which  was  unhesi- 
tatingly if  not  eagerly  accepted. 

His  fate?  8.  Who  took  charge  of  the  following  campaign?  What  was  the  cause  of  his 
death?    Who  succeeded  him  ?     What  was  he  successful  in  doing? 

9.  On  what  terms  was  Olynthus  obliged  to  capitulate  ?  What  had  the  Lacedaemonians 
done  on  this  occasion  ?  10.  What  has iheen  said  about  Phcebidas  ?  How  did  he  employ 
the  men  under  his  charge? 

11.  Where  did  he  encamp?  What  of  Thebes?  12.  What  was  its  internal  state? 
The  two  parlies?  13.  What  happened  when  Phoebidas  appeared  before  the  city  ?  Did 
ha  accept  the  effer?     14.   At  what  season  did  this  take  place?    The  festival  of  Ceies* 


"260  PERIOD  IV.— 404  B.  C.  TO   146  B.  U. 

14.  The  time  was  the  most  promising  that  could  have  beer,  selectevl 
for  such  an  enterprise.  It  was  the  season  of  one  of  the  festivals  of 
Ceres,  when  Theban  matrons  performed  their  devotional  ceremonies 
in  the  citadel,  or  the  Cadmeea,  as  it  was  termed  in  honor  of  the  founder 
of  the  city.  Cadmus.  No  males  were  present  at  these  rites,  so  that 
the  citadel  held  women  alone. 

15.  As  might  be  expected,  where  everything  so  favored  the  under- 
taking, Phcebidas,  on  receiving  the  gate-keys  from  Leontiades,  hurried 
from  his  encampment  to  the  citadel,  and  took  possession  of  it  without 
opposition.  The  surprise  and  consternation  of  the  Thebans  were 
extreme :  and  though  Leontiades  assured  them  of  the  peaceful  inten- 
tions of  the  Spartans,  four  hundred  of  the  leading  citizens  tied  to 
Athens,  on  seeing  Ismcnias  dragged  into  the  citadel  by  the  stranger 
troops. 

ltf.  Having  accomplished  his  base  purpose,  Leontiades  posted  to 
Sparta,  where  the  scnato  were  without  difficulty  persuaded  of  the 
propriety  of  having  a  Lacedaemonian  garrison  in  Thebes.  Indeed, 
though  the  Spartans  affected  at  first  to  blame  the  act  as  rash,  it  has 
been  doubted  whether  the  whole  was  not  a  preconcerted  scheme  of 
Agesilaus,  a  politician  as  artful  as  he  was  able  in  war.  However 
this  may  be,  the  Spartans  certainly  neither  reprehended  nor  recalled 
Phcebidas,  while  at  the  same  time  they  sent  for,  tried,  and  executed 
Ismenias. 

17.  This  important  event  took  place  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Olynthian  war ;  and  at  the  termination  of  that  contest  a  Spartan 
garrison  still  occupied  the  citadel  of  Thebes.  The  confiscations, 
banishments,  and  executions,  that  signalized  the  intervening  period, 
were  almost  unexampled,  even  in  Grecian  annals.  The  aristocratic 
party,  backed  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Cadmsea,  revelled  in  the  blood  of 
their  adversaries.  Deliverers  at  length  arose  to  rescue  Thebes  from 
the  oppression  under  which  she  groaned. 

18.  Of  the  Theban  fugitives  residing  at  Athens,  one  of  the  mos' 
distinguished  was  Pelopidas,  a  youth  of  noble  birth,  high  endowments, 
and  ardent  patriotism.  Burning  with  a  desire  to  relieve  the  distresses 
of  his  country,  Pelopidas,  in  concert  with  a  few  friends,  projected  a 
scheme  for  the  overthrow  of  her  oppressors. 

19.  Phyllidas,  one  of  the  conspirators,  and  a  resident  citizen  of 
Thebes,  invited  to  a  sumptuous  banquet,  on  a  certain  night,  the 
magistrates,  or  rather  tyrants,  of  the  city,  into  whose  favor  he  had 
purposely  ingratiated  himself.  Pelopidas  and  six  other  noble  youths 
had  previously  come  by  stealth  from  Athens,  and  were  on  that  night 
secretly  admitted  within  their  native  walls. 

20.  Carefully  as  the  plot  had  been  concealed,  Archias,  one  of  the 
tyrant  rulers,  received  at  the  table  of  Phyllidas  a  letter  containing  a 
warning  of  what  was  to  happen.     But  the  careless  voluptuary,  intent 

15.  What  did  Phoebidas  now  do?  What  of  tho  consternation  of  the  Thebans? 
1G.  What  did  Leontiades  now  do?  What  has  heen  doubted  in  regard  to  this  affair? 
How  did  the  Spartans  treat.  Ismenias  ? 

17.  When  did  this  event  lake  place?  What  was  the  state  of  Thebes  ?  What  soon; 
however,  happened  ?     18.    Who  was  Pelopidas  ?     What  scheme  did  be  plar  I 

19,20.  How  was  the  scheme  carried  into  execution?     21.   What  was    lext  done? 


EPAMINONDAS.  26 1 

or  indulgence  in  wine  and  other  excesses,  threw  the  missive  aside, 
e»  ilaiming  with  a  smile,  "  Business  to-morrow  !"  A  scene  of  blood- 
shed and  death  speedily  ensued.  Shrouded  in  the  garb  of  females, 
Pelopidas  and  his  companions  entered  and  struck  their  daggers  into 
the  hearts  of  the  oppressors. 

21.  The  death  of  the  traitor  Leontiades  followed  that  of  the  guests 
of  Phyllidas ;  the  captive  friends  of  liberty  were  freed  from  their 
chains;  and  then,  to  their  profound  joy,  the  wondering  citizens  of 
Thebes  heard  in  the  dead  of  night  the  voices  of  heralds  summoning 
them  to  the  support  of  freedom,  and  proclaiming,  "  The  tyrants  are 
no  more  !"  Crowds  of  the  Theban  youth  flocked  on  the  morrow  to 
the  standard  of  the  emancipators  ;  democracy  was  again  formally  estab- 
lished in  the  republic ;  and  in  a  few  days,  the  Spartan  garrison,  see- 
ing its  adversaries  reinforced  by  a  strong  body  of  Athenian  auxiliaries 
and  returned  exiles,  capitulated,  and  evacuated  the  Cadmaea. 

22.  Thus  successfully  terminated  (378  B.  C.)  a  revolution,  in  which 
•—a  thing  that  seldom  happens  on  such  occasions  —  few  except  the 
guilty  suffered,  and  which,  for  justness  of  cause,  and  energetic  vigor 
of  execution,  is  scarcely  paralleled  by  any  similar  event  in  the  annals 
of  the  world. 


CHAPTER    XCVI1. 

Epaminondas. 

1.  The  Lacedaemonians,  though  they  had  no  right  to  complain  of 
this  reverse,  saw  that  it  might  furnish  a  dangerous  example  to  other 
subject  states,  and  accordingly  they  resolved  to  go  to  war,  for  the 
recovery  of  Thebes.  Thus  arose  a  new  civil  contest,  which  raged 
for  seven  years  with  wild  violence,  and  which  contributed,  in  more 
.respects  than  one,  to  the  final  downfall  of  the  ancient  commonwealths 
of  Greece. 

2.  On  the  side  of  the  Spartans,  Cleombrotus  conducted  the  first 
campaign,  after  which  the  command  was  entrusted  to  a  general  named 
Sphodrias.  On  the  part  of  Thebes,  two  men  speedily  distinguished 
themselves  above  all  others.  One  of  these  was  Pelopidas,  who  has 
already  been  noticed  as  an  important  agent  in  the  revolution,  and  a 
man  of  high  character  and  abilities.  Still  more  eminent  was  his  friend 
and  associate,  Epaminondas,  a  youth  imbued  with  high  virtues,  both  of 
nature  and  education. 

3.  Though  atfecting  no  undue  contempt  for  riches  or  fame,  this 
illustrious  Theban  coveted  neither  of  them,  and  followed  a  public  life 
only  because  his  country  required  his  services.  In  command  he  so 
conducted  himself  as  to  do  more  honor  to  the  dignities  with  which 
he  was  invested,  than   they  did  to  him;  and  when  circumstances  no 


What  voice  did  the  Thebans  hear  in  the  night?     What  soon  happened  in  Thebes  !    22. 
?Vhat  may  be  said  of  this  revolution? 
XCVI1  —  1.  Wnat  did  the  Lacedaemonians  resolve  to  do  1    What  of  the  contest  whkk 


2&2  PE.lIOD  IV.— 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

longer  required  his  exertions,  he  retired  to  his  privacy  to  indulge  in 
those  philosophic  studies,  which  had  given  to  his  young  min  1  its  caln. 
strength  and  magnanimity.  Though  excelling  all  his  compeers  in 
eloquence,  it  was  said  of  him  that  there  was  no  man  who  knew  more 
and  spoke  less. 

4.  One  of  the  most  accomplished  soldiers  of  his  time,  Epaminondas 
was  also  one  of  the  wisest  of  statesmen  and  best  of  citizens.  Such 
was  the  general  appointed  to  command  the  Theban  army  in  concert 
with  Pelopidas,  with  whom  he  had  the  most  perfect  and  disinterested 
friendship  —  a  friendship  rare  under  such  circumstances,  and  highly 
honorable  to  both  parties. 

5.  Sphodrias,  the  general  to  whom  the  Lacedaemonians  ultimately 
entrusted  the  Theban  war,  was  ensnared  by  his  adversaries  into  an 
act  of  folly  which  greatly  injured  his  own  cause.  Athens,  though 
favorable  at  first  to  Thebes,  afterwards  took  alarm  for  some  not  very 
well  defined  reason,  and  showed  an  inclination  to  aid  the  designs  of 
Sparta.  Uneasy  at  the  defection  of  such  an  ally,  the  Thebans,  by 
bribery  or  the  address  of  their  emissaries,  prevailed  upon  the  weak- 
minded  Sphodrias  to  make  a  hostile  demonstration  with  his  forces 
against  Athens. 

6.  Having  been  speciously  led  to  believe  that  this  would  be  agree- 
able to  his  country,  the  Spartan  leader  marched  into  the  Athenian 
territory,  and  ravaged  it,  though  he  did  not  approach  the  city.  This 
mad  and  unprovoked  aggression  irritated  the  Athenians  beyond 
measure,  and  effectually  detached  them  for  the  time  from  the  Spartan 
cause. 

7.  Though  his  countrymen  at  home  disavowed  all  participation  in 
the  attempt  of  Sphodrias,  that  general  was  not  punished,  being  saved, 
it  is  related,  chiefly  through  the  influence  of  Agesilaus  and  Jiis  son 
Archidamus ;  and  hence  some  historians  have  been  inclined  to  believe 
that  had  Sphodrias  advanced  boldly  and  seized  the  Piraeus,  the  Spar 
tans  would  have  found  no  more  fault  with  it  than  they  did  with  the 
similar  accident  which  befell  the  Cadmaea. 

8.  Agesilaus,  still  the  moving  spring  of  all  the  councils  of  Lace- 
daemon,  now  saw  it  necessary  to  take  some  more  energetic  steps.  At 
the  head  of  an  army  of  eighteen  thousand  foot  and  fifteen  hundred 
horse,  he  took  the  field  in  person,  and  made  two  campaigns  in  Bceotia, 
ravaging  the  country,  and  harassing  Thebes  and  her  dependencies 
considerably,  but  was  prevented,  by  the  skill  of  the  Theban  generals 
and  their  able  ally,  Chabrias,  the  Athenian,  from  gaining  any  decisive 
success. 

9.  Phcebidas,  the  former  captor  of  the  Cadmaea,  being  left  in  com- 
mand by  the  Spartan  king  on  his  return  home,  was  defeated  and  slain 

thus  arose?  2.  Who  was  the  Spartan  commander?  Who  were  the  Theban  generals  1 
3,  4.  What  may  be  said  of  E|>aminondas?     His  character? 

5.  How  was  Athens  disposed  towards  Thebes?  What  did  the  Thebans  do  to  avert 
this?  6.  What  did  Sphodrias  do?  What  effect  did  this  act  have  upon  the  Athenians  1 
7.  How  was  Sphodrias  saved  from  punishment  ?  What  have  some  historians  been  hence 
inclined  to  believe? 

8.  What  did  Agesilaus  now  see  that  it  was  necessary  to  do  ?  What  force  did  he  raise  1 
What  of  his  campaigns?  9.  What  of  the  fate  of  Phcebidas?  What  did  Thebes  now 
oogin  to  suffer?     Why  could  she  not  obtain  supplies  fr  MD  Eubcea  /       * 


CONVENTION  AT  SPARTA.  263 

ov  the  enemy.  From  the  repeated  injuries  inflicted  on  the  teiritories 
from  which  her  provisions  were  derived,  Thebes  began  now  to  suffer 
severely  from  famine,  and  all  her  endeavors  to  procure  supplies  by  sea 
from  Euboea  were  frustrated  by  the  Lacedaemonian  garrison  perma- 
nently established  there. 

10.  In  this  emergency,  the  people  of  Euboea  rose,  expelled  the 
garrison,  and  Thebes  obtained  effectual  relief.  But  a  liiuch  more  seri- 
ous calamity  (376  B.  C.)  soon  after  threatened  the  Boeotian  capital. 
A  fleet  of  sixty  large  vessels  was  fitted  out  by  Sparta  and  her  allies 
for  the  purpose  of  transporting  troops  into  the  neighborhood  of  Thebes, 
and  of  cutting  off  all  her  maritime  communications. 

11.  At  this  juncture,  Athens  stepped  in  to  save  her  ally.  Cha 
brias,  equally  able  by  sea  and  land,  was  placed  in  command  of  a  strong 
\thenian  fleet,  and  having  met  the  Spartan  armament  near  the  isle  of 
Naxos,  inflicted  on  it  a  most  signal  defeat,  which  left  the  trade  both 
of  Thebes  and  Athens  perfectly  free. 

12.  At  the  same  time,  Timotheus,  the  son  of  Conon,  scoured  the 
western  seas  with  another  Athenian  squadron,  and  routed  a  Spartan 
fleet  under  Nicolochus,  while  Iphicrates,  who  succeeded  him  in  com- 
mand, continued  the  career  of  success,  by  vanquishing  a  third  naval 
force  which  the  Lacedaemonians  had  collected  from  Corinth,  Syracuse, 
and  other  allied  states  and  dependencies. 

13.  The  Thebans  (374  B.  C.)  were  so  elated  with  the  prosperous 
aspect  of  their  affairs  at  this  crisis,  as  to  reject  a  proposal  from  the 
Persian  king,  who,  being  desirous  of  assistance  in  quelling  a  rebellion 
in  Egypt,  interposed  to  promote  a  general  pacification  throughout 
Greece.  They  even  so  far  forgot  the  dictates  of  humanity  as  to  raze 
to  the  ground  several  hostile  cities  of  Bceotia,  and  among  others  Pla- 
taea,  a  little  republic  long  and  closely  connected  with  Athens,  which 
now  received  into  its  own  bosom  the  homeless  citizens  of  its  ancient 
ally,  and  expressed  the  utmost  indignation  at  the  conduct  of  their  per 
secutors. 

14.  This  effect  of  their  harsh  behavior  probably  brought  the  The- 
bans to  reason,  as  they  shortly  afterwards  agreed  to  a  convention  of 
the  states  of  Greece,  with  the  view  of  taking  into  consideration  the 
propriety  of  a  general  peace. 

15.  Sparta  was  the  scene  (372  B.  C.)  of  this  important  congress. 
Antocles  and  Callistratus,  the  orators,  were  the  emissaries  from 
Athens ;  Agesilaus  himself  conducted  the  negotiation  on  the  part  of 
the  Lacedaemonians  ;  and  Epaminondas  is  said,  by  the  majority  of 
Grecian  historians,  to  have  appeared  as  plenipotentiary  for  Thebes 
The  proposed  treaty  went  to  establish  peace  over  the  whole  country, 
and  contained  a  clause  acknowledging  the  independence  of  every  state, 
large  or  small. 

16.  Sparta  and  Athens  were  for  the  time  wearied  with  warfare, 

10.  What,  however,  did  the  people  dY  Eubcea  do?  What  calamity  now  threatened 
Thebes  ?  11.  What  did  Athens  do  at  this  juncture  ?  What  victories  did  Chabrias  win  1 
12.  Timotheus?  13.  What  proposal  did  the  Thebans  reject?  What  happened  to 
Platsea ! 

14.  What  did  tha  Thebans  shortly  after  agree  to?  15.  Wrhere  was  the  congress  held" 
Who  were  tne  emissaries  from  the  several  slates?  What  was  the  proposed  treaty  for? 
16.  Why  did  llw  negotiation  fail  ?    What  did  the  Theban  ambassador  declare  ? 


264  PERIOD  IV.  — 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  U 

and  their  representatives  signed  the  treaty  and  swore  to  its  observance 
But,  unlike  the  Athenian  envoys,  Agesilaus  took  the  oath  not  for  his 
countrymen  alone,  but  for  them  and  their  allies  conjunctly.  On  this 
r  )ck  did  the  whole  negotiation  split.  The  Theban  ambassador  boldly 
and  not  unreasonably,  declared,  that  he  could  not  and  would  not  be- 
come a  party  to  the  treaty,  unless  he  were  permitted  also  to  sign  in 
the  name  of  his  country's  allies  as  well  as  in  her  own. 

17.  The  refusal  of  Sparta  to  accede  to  this  demand  shows  us  that 
misfortune  had  not  tamed  her  domineering  pride.  She  claimed  a  right 
to  an  irresponsible  authority  over  the  states  around  her,  but  would 
permit  a  similar  privilege  to  no  other  power.  Epaminondas  firmly  as- 
serted the  title  of  his  country  to  hold  an  equal  position  with  any  other 

'  the  states. 

18.  The  Spartans  were  obstinate,  and  the  conference  broke  up, 
weaving  T^bes  in  a  situation  of  great  difficulty  and  danger.  The 
Spartans  and  their  more  immediate  confederates  were  her  opponents 
before ;  but  now  she  was  in  a  measure  at  variance  with  all  Greece. 


CHAPTER    XCVIII. 

Battle  of  Leuctra.  —  Jason  of  Phera. 

1.  Within  a  few  months  after  the  congress  of  Sparta,  Cleombro 
tus,  the  colleague  of  Agesilaus,  encamped  (271  B.  C.)  at  Leuctra,  on 
the  Boeotian  frontier,  with  a  confederate  army  of  twenty-four  thousand 
foot  and  sixteen  hundred  horse.  The  Thebans  could  not  muster  very 
much  above  half  that  strength,  but  in  discipline  and  valor  they  far  ex- 
celled the  motlr.y  array  of  Cleombrotus. 

2.  One  portion  of  the  Theban  forces  merits  particular  notice:  This 
was  the  Sacred  Band,  as  it  was  named,  a  body  originally  consisting 
of  three  hundred  chosen  men,  of  tried  fidelity,  and  bound  together  by 
the  inviolable  bonds  of  friendship.  Pelopidas  was  the  commander  of 
this  phalanx,  which  never  fought  but  to  conquer,  until  it  fell,  many 
years  after  this  period,  before  the  Macedonian  arms. 

3.  Inferior  as  his  troops  were  in  numerical  strength,  Epaminondas, 
confident  in  the  spirit  with  which  he  had  been  mainly  instrumental  in 
inspiring  them,  approached  the  plain  of  Leuctra,  and  prepared  unhes- 
itatingly to  repel  the  invaders  of  his  country. 

4.  When  the  armies  met,  the  action  was  begun  by  the  Theban  cav- 
alry, which  attacked  that  of  the  enemy,  and  threw  them  back  upon 
the  main  army,  creating  a  confusion  of  which  Epaminondas  availed 
himself  to  perform  an  evolution  decisive  of  the  fate  of  the  day.  He 
formed  a  strong  division  into  the  shape  of  a  wedge,  which  he  carried 

17.  What  may  be  said  of  the  refusal  of  Sparta  f  What  right  did  she  claim  ?  What  did 
Epaminondas  assert?  18.  What  was  ihe  situation  of  the  various  states  when  the  confer 
ence  bmke  up? 

XCVIII.  —  1.  Who  was  Cleombrotus?  Where  did  he  encamp  a  few  months  after  the 
congress  at  Sparta?  With  what  force  ?  What  force  did  the  Thebans  muster?  2.  What 
if  the  Sacred  Band ?     Who  commanded  it  ?    3.  What  did  Epaminondas  prepare  to  do  ? 

4.  By  whom  was  the  action  begun  ?     What  was  the  result  of  the  attack?     HoW  did 


BATTLE  OF  LEUCTKA.  2tW 

mpetuously,  like  the  beak  of  a  galley,  through  the  lines  of  the  t    nny 
spreading  death  arid  disorder  everywhere. 


'  --      -      -- 


Battle  of  Lcuctra. 

5.  The  Spartans  never  recovered  themselves  from  the  shock,  anr 
in  spite  of  a  desperate  resistance,  were  completely  routed.  Cleombro 
tus  died  on  the  field,  and  his  scattered  forces  fled  for  refuge  to  thei 
strong  encampment,  which  Epaminondas  prudently  left  unassailed 
The  Thebans  erected  a  trophy  on  the  plain  in  honor  of  the  victory. 

6.  All  Greece  was  struck  with  astonishment  at  the  issue  of  this, 
the  first  pitched  battle  in  which  a  Spartan  army  had  been  worsted  by 
inferior  numbers.  The  manner  in  which  the  intelligence  was  received, 
both  at  Sparta  and  Athens,  is  peculiarly  worthy  of  notice.  On  the 
day  which  brought  the  messenger  of  bad  news  to  the  former  of  these 
cities,  its  inhabitants  were  engaged  in  celebrating  festival  games,  and 
invoking  the  favor  of  the  gods  for  the  approaching  harvest. 

7.  Informed  of  the  disastrous  event,  the  Ephors,  without  interrupt- 
ing the  entertainments,  communicated  the  names  of  the  slain  to  their 
relatives,  and  at  the  same  time  commanded  the  women  to  abstain  from 
lamentations.  On  the  morrow,  the  friends  of  the  fallen  appeared  in 
their  best  attire  in  the  public  places,  and  congratulated  each  other  ou 
the  bravery  of  their  kinsmen,  while  the  friends  of  those  who  had  sur- 
vived the  fight  remained  shut  up  at  home,  sorrowfully  looking  forward 
to  the  sentence  of  eternal  ignominy,  which  the  republic  passed  on 
every  citizen  who  fled  before  an  enemy. 

8.  The  doom  of  disgrace,  however,  was  in  this  instance  averted. 
Actuated  either  by  a  spirit  of  lenity,  or  by  the  consciousness  that 

Kpaminondas  decide  the  file  of  the  day  1     5.  The  fate  of  the  Spartans?    Of  Cleombro 
ins?     8.  How  was  the  newvs  received  of  the  battle  ofLeuctra? 
7.  What  did  the  Ephors  immediately  do?    What  was  done  the  next  day?    8.  How  drd 

23 


206  PERIOD  IV.— 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

Sparta,  ii.  her  exhausted  state,  could  not  afford  to  Jose  more  o/  her 
children,  Agesilaus  moved  in  the  senate  that  the  rigor  of  the  laws 
should  on  this  occasion  be  mitigated.  "  Let  us  suppose,"  said  he, 
11  the  sacred  institutions  of  Lycurgus  to  have  slept  during  one  unfor- 
tunate day,  but  henceforth  let  them  resume  their  wonted  vigor!" 
The  prudent  counsels  of  Agesilaus  were  adopted. 

9.  Meanwhile,  at  Athens,  a  very  unexpected  effect  had  been  pro- 
duced by  the  intelligence  of  the  Spartan  defeat  at  Leuctra.  Anxious 
to  propitiate  the  favor  of  the  Athenians,  the  Thebans  paid  them  the 
compliment  of  sending  a  courier  extraordinary  to  announce  the  event 
But  the  mission  was  coldly  received  at  Athens.  Jealousy  of  the  grow- 
ing power  of  Thebes  was  doubtless  the  reason  of  this  seeming  defection 
of  the  Athenians  from  the  cause  they  had  so  lately  favored. 

10.  To  the  desire  of  treating  Sparta  in  her  adversity  with  forbear- 
ance and  moderation,  their  conduct  at  this  juncture  cannot  be  ascribed  ; 
for,  while  they  showed  themselves  unwilling  to  promote  further  the 
prosperity  of  Thebes,  they  at  the  same  time  sought  to  extract  every 
possible  advantage  to  their  own  affairs  from  the  depressed  condition  of 
Sparta. 

11.  Disappointed  of  countenance  and  assistance  from  Athens,  the 
Thebans  turned  their  eyes  upon  an  ally  of  a  very  different  order,  but 
one  still  more  powerful.  Thessaly;  at  this  period,  was  under  the  do- 
minion of  Jason  of  Pherae,  a  man  of  extraordinary  endowments,  both 
of  mind  and  body.  To  all  the  heroic  personal  qualities  of  the  old  Ho- 
meric kings,  from  whom  he  claimed  descent,  Jason  added  the  military 
skill  and  the  political  ability  of  his  own  mature  epoch. 

12.  Such  a  personage  was  well  fitted  to  Tise  to  power  in  a  country 
like  Thessaly,  where  the  primitive  habits  of  a  pastoral  life  were  but 
partially  intermingled  with  more  refined  customs,  derived  from  the 
■leighboring  states  of  the  ancient  Grecian  confederacy.  From  the 
situation  of  a  citizen  of  Pherae,  a  considerable  town  in  the  southern 
portion  of  Thessaly,  Jason,  by  his  talents  and  conduct,  gained  so 
much  influence  and  popularity,  that,  under  the  denomination  of  cap- 
tain-general, he  enjoyed  the  full  extent  of  royal  power  in  his  native 
country. 

13.  But  the  mind  of  Jason  was  one  capable  of  the  loftiest  designs. 
He  saw  with  what  ease  his  numerous  and  hardy  mountaineers,  whom 
he  had  trained  to  an  almost  unexampled  pitch  of  discipline,  could  give 
him  the  ascendency  over  the  exhausted  states  of  southern  Greece  ;  he 
even  contemplated  further  conquests,  such  as  those  which  Alexander 
afterwards  realized. 

14.  As  a  first  step  in  his  policy,  he  assiduously  endeavored  to 
acquire  a  friendly  influence  over  the  Grecian  republics.  He  visited 
the  principal  of  them  on  several  occasions,  and  by  his  specious  address 
and  semi-barbaric  magnificence,  won  considerable  favor  among  them. 
With  Thebes  he  entered  into  a  formal   alliance,  though   historians 

Atesilaus  avert  the  doom  of  disgrace?  9.  What  was  the  effect  of  the  news  upon  Athens  i 
What  was  doubtless  the  reason  of  this? 

10.  To  what  desire  must  this  conduct  not  be  ascribed  ?  11.  Upon  what  ally  did  the  The 
bans  now  turn  their  eyes?  What  of  Jason  of  Phera?  12.  For  what  was  he  wo!!  filled  1 
To  what  office  had  he  raised  himself? 

J3.  What  conquests  did  he  contemplate?     14.  What  steps  did  l)e  take?     IJpw  die 


JASOI*   OF   PHKRiE.  267 

relate  tha  its  most  distinguished  citizen,  Epaminondas,  spurned  all 
his  advances,  and  rejected  his  presents  with  disdain.  Yet  Epaminon- 
das was  the  poorest,  perhaps,  of  all  the  soldiers  and  statesmen  who 
ever  rose  to  distinction  in  the  states  of  Greece. 

15.  Holding  sum  views,  the  Prince  of  Thessaly,  as  may  be  antici- 
pated, at  once  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  Thebans  to  join  their 
army,  and  to  give  them  that  support  which  Athens  denied.  While 
both  the  victors  and  the  vanquished  at  Leuctra  still  lay  encamped  neat 
the  scene  of  the  contest,  Jason,  at  the  head  of  two  thousand  light 
horse,  joined  the  army  of  the  Thebans,  and  was  welcomed  by  them 
with  delight. 

16.  Sensible,  however,  that  his  ultimate  designs  relative  to  Greece 
would  be  more  advanced  by  his  appearance  in  the  character  of  a  medi- 
ator between  the  belligerent  powers  than  as  a  coadjutor  of  either  of 
them,  Jason  became  the  counsellor  of  peace,  and,  acting  as  nego- 
tiator himself,  he  speedily  succeeded  so  far  as  to  bring  about  (370  B. 
C.)  a  truce. 

17.  On  its  conclusion,  all  parties  immediately  left  the  field,  the 
Lacedaemonians  returning  home  with  a  degree  of  haste  which  implied 
their  want  of  confidence  in  this  sudden  pacification,  as  well  as  their 
dislike  of  the  unexpected  pacificator.  Indeed,  all  the  states  of  Greece 
appear  at  this  moment  to  have  felt  no  small  degree  of  alarm  respect- 
ing Jason,  whose  proceedings  after  his  return  to  Thessaly  were  cal- 
culated to  confirm  their  worst  anticipations. 

18.  He  openly  announced  his  intention  of  being  present  at  the 
ensuing  celebration  of  the  Pythian  games  at  Delphi,  and  of  claiming 
the  right  of  presiding  there  as  an  honor  due  to  his  descent,  his  piety, 
and  his  power.  For  the  sacrifices  of  the  oracle,  he  collected  no  less 
than  eleven  thousand  cattle  of  various  kinds  —  a  sufficient  indication 
of  the  number  of  followers  with  which  he  purposed  to  appear. 

19.  But  in  this  hour  so  ominous  of  ill  to  Greece  —  when  the  ambi- 
tious views  of  the  Prince  of  Thessaly  were  seemingly  approaching  to 
maturity  —  death  closed  his  career.  After  a  review  of  his  cavalry, 
as  he  sat  to  give  audience  to  supplicants,  Jason  was  assassinated  (370 
B.  C.)  by  seven  youths,  who  approached  him  under  the  plea  of  stating 
some  point  on  which  they  were  at  issue.  No  reason  for  this  act  has 
ever  been  discovered. 

20.  The  feeling  with  which  the  intelligence  of  Jason's  death  was 
received  in  the  Grecian  cities,  is  plainly  enough  shown  by  the  friendly, 
if  not  triumphant,  welcome  given  by  them  to  five  of  the  assassins 
who  escaped.  By  this  event,  the  fall  of  Greece,  before  the  rising 
power  of  her  northern  neighbors,  was  postponed  for  a  term  of  thirty- 
three  years. 


Kpaminondas  receive  his  advances?  15.  What  invitation  did  Jason  accept?  Willi 
what  force  did  he  join  the  army  of  the  Thebans  ? 

16.  What  character  did  Jason  assume  between  the  belligerent  powers?  How  did  he 
succeed?  17.  What  did  the  Lacedaemonians  do  at  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  ?  How 
did  the  states  of  Greece  regard  Jason  ? 

18  What  intention  did  he  announce?  What  preparations  did  he  make?  19.  Th« 
■lanner  of  his  death  ?    20.  How  were  the  assassins  received  by  the  Grecian  states  ? 


2fiS  I'ERIOD  IV. —  404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  U. 

CHAPTER  XCIX. 

Invasion  of  Laconia. 

1.  Bi  inded  by  their  jealous  animosities,  Sparta  and  Thebes,  witn 
their  allies,  were  not  long  in  recommencing  hostilities.  The  year 
following  that  in  which  Jason  lost  his  life  was  distinguished  by  sev- 
eral proceedings  of  importance  on  the  part  of  the  rival  states. 

2.  The  country  of  Arcadia,  at  this  time  in  alliance  with  Thebes, 
was  invaded  and  ravaged  by  Agesilaus,  in  reprisal  for  which  Epami- 
nondas  led  a  powerful  army,  composed  of  the  youth  of  Bceotia,  of 
Acarnania,  Phocis,  Locris,  Eubcea,  and  other  communities,  into  the 
territory  of  Lacedaemon  herself,  which  had  not  felt  the  heavy  hand 
of  an  enemy  for  several  centuries. 

3.  At  the  approach  of  the  Thebans,  Agesilaus,  evacuating  Arcadia, 
betook  himself  to  the  defence  of  his  native  city,  and  by  the  exercise 
of  consummate  skill,  valor,  and  prudence,  succeeded  in  preserving  it 
from  the  inroad  of  an  enemy  far  outnumbering  his  own  forces. 

4.  Great  as  the  glory  would  have  been  of  humbling  the  proud 
Spartans  within  their  own  walls,  Epaminondas  was  too  able  a  leader 
to  expend  the  lives  and  energies  of  his  soldiers  upon  an  almost  im- 
practicable design,  while  a  rich,  because  long  unpillaged,  country  lay 
without  defences  before  him.  Upon  Laconia,  therefore,  the  Thebans 
wreaked  the  hostility  which  the  genius  of  Agesilaus  warded  otf  from 
its  capital. 

5.  The  Spartan  king,  however,  did  not  confine  his  labors  for  the 
commonwealth  to  the  defence  of  the  city.  Recollecting  the  disfavor 
with  which  Athens  had  viewed  the  Theban  victory  at  Leuctra,  he 
sent  to  that  republic  able  and  wily  emissaries,  who,  aided  by  the 
ambassadors  of  Corinth  and  Phlius,  were  successful  in  inducing  the 
Athenians  to  take  up  arms,  not  for  the  restoration  of  Spartan  ascen- 
dency, but  for  the  establishment  of  that  general  peace,  which  had  been 
agreed  to  at  the  Spartan  congress  by  every  state,  with  the  exception 
of  Thebes. 

6.  From  whatever  causes  the  existing  war  proceeded,  when  viewed 
in  this  light,  it  in  reality  appeared  to  arise  solely  from  the  obstinacy 
of  the  Thebans ;  and  under  color  of  this  specious  argument,  Athens 
became  a  party  on  the  side  of  Sparta.  Iphicrates,  at  the  head  of 
twenty  thousand  men,  marched  to  Arcadia,  with  the  view  of  diverting 
Epaminondas  from  his  Laconian  campaign. 

7.  The  generous  and  wise  Theban  had  just  perfected  a  work  of 
humanity,  as  well  as  of  policy,  at  the  time  when  he  heard  of  the 
movements  of  the  Athenians  under  Iphicrates.     Some  centuries  before, 


XCIX.  —  1.  By  what  was  the  year  following  distinguished?  2.  What  did  Agesilaus 
iu?  How  did  Epaminondas  take  revenge?  3.  What  did  Agesilaus  do  on  the  approach 
hi  the  Thebans  ? 

4.  What  was  Epaminondas  too  wise  to  do?  What  did  he  prefer  to  do?  5.  What  did 
Agesilaus  do  in  connection  with  Athens?  6.  What  appeared  to  be  the  cause  of  the  war  I 
•Vhat  force  did  the  Athenians  raise?     Who  commanded  it  ? 

7.  What  work  had  Epaminondas  just  completed?    What  had  happened  some  time 


MESSENE  REBUILT 


269 


Sparta  had  razed  to  the  ground  the  flourishing-  city  of  Messene,  and 
had  dispersed  its  wretched  inhabitants  over  Greece. 

8.  By  the  liberality  of  Athens,  the  Messenians  had  been  assembled 
and  settled  in  the  island  of  Cephalonia,  but  they  longed  unceasingly  to 
return  to  the  place  where  their  fathers  slept.  Epaminondas,  taking 
pity  on  them,  rebuilt  their  city,  and  restored  their  territorial  posses- 
sions, thus  reviving  a  powerful  rival  to  Sparta  in  the  Peloponnesus. 

9.  Scarcely  had  he  done  this,  when  the  inimical  demonstrations  on 
the  part  of  Athens  were  reported  to  him.  He  immediately  evacuated 
Laconia,  and  Iphicrates,  as  if  the  object  of  his  mission  were  thus 
accomplished,  led  the  Athenian  forces  out  of  Arcadia.  Watching 
each  other's  movements,  both  generals  then  took  the  direction  of 
home,  which  they  respectively  reached  without  any  hostile  collision. 


Triai  oj  Epaminondas. 

10.  This  pacific  termination  of  the  campaign  brought  down  an 
accusation  of  misconduct  upon  the  Theban  leaders  ;  but  Epaminondas 
defended  himself  with  so  much  force  and  dignity  before  the  assembly 
of  the  people*,  that  the  factious  attempts  of  his  enemies  to  injure  him 
only  redounded  to  his  honor  and  popularity. 

before  to  the  city  of  Messene?    8.  What  had  Athens  allowed  the  Messenians  to  do  * 
What  had  Epaminondas  done  for  them? 

9.  What  did  he  do  on  hearing  of  the  hostile  demonstrations  of  Athens  ?    Iphicrates  J 
Flow  did  both  parties  reach  home  ?     10.  Of  what  were  the  Theban  leaders  accused? 
<33* 


270  PERIOD  IV.—  404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

11.  The  revival  of  the  Messenian  commonwealth  was  the  most 
important  result  of  the  past  campaign,  as  it  took  permanently  from 
Sparta  nearly  one  half  of  her  long-held  territory.  Other  advantages 
also  had  accrued  to  the  Thebans,  and  they  prepared  to  take  the  field, 
therefore,  in  the  following  spring  (368  B.  C.)  with  undiminished  con- 
fidence, though  the  Lacedaemonians,  in  concert  with  the  Athenians 
under  Chabrias,  had  fortified  the  isthmus  of  Corinth,  in  order  to  close 
up  the  passage  into  the  Peloponnesus.  Epaminondas,  however,  forced 
one  of  the  posts,  and  ravaged  the  Corinthian  territories. 

12.  But  here  the  campaign  terminated ;  instead  of  marching  into 
the  Peloponnesus,  the  Theban  general  drew  back  his  forces  and 
returned  to  Thebes.  The  cause  of  this  retreat  is  not  very  clearly 
understood  ;  and  certainly,  whether  done  in  consequence  of  commands 
from  Thebes  or  not,  it  injured  for  a  time  the  popularity  of  Fpami- 
nondas. 

13.  The  condition  of  the  northern  provinces  of  Boeotia  has  beer 
assigned  by  some  historians  as  the  reason,  and  with  every  appearance 
of  probability,  seeing  that  Pelopidas  was  sent  immediately  afterward* 
at  the  head  of  a  strong  force  to  restore  quiet  to  that  region,  then  dis- 
turbed by  the  tyrant  Ale^nnder,  Jason  s  third  successor  on  the  throne 
of  Thessaly.  On  the  arrival  of  the  Thebans  in  Thessaly,  the  fear- 
stricken  despot  implored  their  clemency,  and  submissively  bound  him- 
self to  the  fulfilment  of  every  stipulation  dictated  to  him,  whether  it 
related  to  his  own  possessions  or  theirs. 

14.  Yet,  when  Pelopidas  shortly  afterwards  was  a  second  time 
called  to  the  north,  as  mediator  in  the  affairs  of  Macedon,  and  had 
placed  the  legitimate  heir  to  that  kingdom  on  his  throne,  the  ungrate- 
ful tyrant  of  Thessaly  seized  him  by  surprise,  as  he  wended  his  way 
home  with  a  small  train,  and  threw  him  into  a  dungeon.  He  was 
ultimately  liberated  by  Epaminondas,  who  joined  an  expedition  des- 
tined for  the  rescue  of  Pelopidas,  as  a  common  soldier,  but,  long  ere 
the  enterprise  was  concluded,  was  called  by  acclamation  of  the  troops 
to  the  high  post  which  was  his  due. 

15.  While  the  attention  of  the  Thebans  was  thus  occupied  with 
their  northern  frontier,  the  Spartans  were  on  their  part  not  inactive. 
Archidamus,  son  of  Agesilaus,  was  successful  in  expelling  the  Theban 
garrisons  which  had  been  introduced  into  various  cities  of  Laconia. 
He  subsequently  invaded  Arcadia,  and  gained  (367  B.  C.)  a  signal 
victory  over  the  inhabitants  of  that  region,  though  commanded  by 
their  bravest  warrior,  Lycomedes. 

16.  In  this  engagement  the  Arcadians  lost  great  numbers  of  men, 
while  not  one  Lacedaemonian  fell.  When  the  intelligence  of  this 
victory  reached  Sparta,  the  aged  Agesilaus  and  all  the  assembled 
inhabitants  wept  for  joy,  though,  as  not  a  single  mother  had  to  lament 

11.  What  was  the  most  important  result  of  the  past  campaign  ?  What  other  advan 
tages  accrued  to  the  Thebans  ?     What  did  they  prepare  to  do  in  the  following  spring? 

12.  Why  did  the  campaign  terminate  here?  What  was  the  effect  of  the  retreat  upon 
the  popularity  of  Epaminondas?  13.  What  has  been  assigned  by  some  historians  as  the 
reason  ?  What  of  Alexander  of  Thessaly  ?  14.  How  did  he  afterwards  treat  Pelopidas  ? 
What  of  the  expedition  to  release  him  ? 

15  What  had  Archidamus  in  the  mean  time  been  doing  ?  The  invasion  of  Arcadia? 
16.  The  loss  of  the  Arcadians?  Of  the  Lacedaemonians?  What  was  the  engagement 
entitled? 


CONGRESS  AT  THEBES.  21  \ 

a  fallen  son,  this  engagement  was  entitled,  in  the  Spartan  anna.s 
"  The  tearless  battle."  By  fortifying  their  frontier  according  to  s 
plan  suggested  by  Epaminondas,  the  Arcadians  put  a  stop  for  a  time 
to  the  incursions  of  their  foes. 

17.  The  Persian  court,  at  this  period,  became  once  more  the  thea- 
tre of  Grecian  negotiations,  or  rather  intrigues,  every  one  of  the 
belligerent  states  being  desirous  of  the  pecuniary  support,  at  least, 
of  Artaxerxes.  Pelopidas  was  the  ambassador  sent  to  Susa  on  the 
part  of  Thebes,  and  faithfully  and  skilfully  did  he  fulfil  the  objects  of 
his  mission. 

18.  Charmed  by  his  noble  appearance  and  his  commanding  elo- 
quence, the  Asiatic  prince  distinguished  Pelopidas  aoove  all  the  rival 
envoys  from  the  other  states,  and  ratified  a  treaty  with  him  of  a  most 
advantageous  character  for  Thebes.  By  the  terms  of  this  treaty, 
which  had  in  view  the  general  pacification  of  Greece,  the  Athenians 
were  required  to  lay  up  their  fleet,  and  the  Spartans  to  acknowledge 
the  independence  of  Messenia,  under  pain,  in  case  of  refusal,  of  draw- 
ing down  upon  them  the  conjunct  vengeance  of  Persia  and  Thebes. 

19.  Such  propositions  demanded  the  full  consideration  of  the  parties 
implicated  ;  and,  accordingly,  as  soon  as  Pelopidas  had  returned  home, 
and  communicated  to  his  countrymen  the  favorable  issue  of  his  nego- 
tiations, it  was  resolved  that  messengers  should  be  despatched  to  all 
the  states  of  Greece,  inviting  them  to  appear  by  their  representatives 
at  Thebes,  in  order  to  discuss,  in  full  congress,  the  terms  of  the  pro- 
posed treaty. 

20.  This  summons  was  very  generally  obeyed  by  the  minor  states, 
but  Athens  and  Sparta  appear  to  have  received  it  with  contemptuous 
silence.  The  success  of  the  Thebans,  in  convincing  the  assembled 
deputies  of  the  propriety  of  acceding  to  the  propositions  laid  before 
them,  was  not  such  as  had  been  expected. 

21.  Lycomedes,  the  Arcadian  envoy,  boldly  told  the  Thebans  that 
their  city  was  not  the  place  where  such  a  congress  should  have  been 
held,  and  that,  as  for  the  alliance  of  the  Great  King,  Arcadia,  at  least, 
neither  cared  for  it  nor  needed  it.  Other  deputies  expressed  similar 
sentiments,  and  the  assembly  broke  up  without  having  arrived  at  any 
decisive  resolution. 

22.  This  conclusion  can  excite  no  surprise  ;  for,  though  the  connec- 
tion of  Thebes  with  Persia  on  this  occasion  involved  no  such  degrad- 
ing consequences  to  Greece  as  the  corresponding  treaty  negotiated  by 
Antalcidas  for  Sparta,  the  motives  of  the  two  states  were  the  same  — 
namely,  to  establish  for  themselves  an  ascendency  over  the  other 
states  of  Greece. 

17.  What  of  the  Persian  court  at  this  period?  Who  went  to  Susa  on  the  part  of 
Thebes?  18.  How  did  Artaxerxes  distinguish  hiin  ?  What  of  the  Theban  treaty } 
What  were  the  terms  of  this  treaty?  19.  What  did  Pelopidas  do  when  he  returned 
home?    What  was  resolved  ? 

20.  How  was  this  summons  received  by  the  minor  states?  By  Athens  and  Sparta 
The  success  if  the  Thebans?  21.  What  did  Ly;omedes  say  ?  What  was  said  by  othef 
deputies  ?    22.  What  of  the  connection  of  Thebes  with  Persia  ? 


P72  PERIOD  IV.  — 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

CHAPTER   C. 

Alliance  of  Athens  and  Arcadia. 

t.  The  conduct  of  Epaminondas,  throughout  tne  political  manoeu 
vrings  that  have  been  described,  confirms  the  supposition  that  the 
views  of  Thebes  were  grossly  interested,  and  at  variance  with  the 
true  spirit  of  freedom.  This  just  and  virtuous  man  stood  aloof  from 
all  participation  in  these  diplomatic  intrigues,  and  only  reappeared  on 
the  scene  of  affairs  at  their  unsuccessful  termination. 

2.  Being  appointed  to  the  command  of  his  country's  forces,  he 
again  invaded  (3(>6  B.  C.)  the  Peloponnesus,  and  having  rapidly 
reduced  Achaia,  he  established  order  in  that  province,  binding  its  in- 
habitants by  oath,  at  the  same  time,  to  follow  the  standard  of  Thebes. 

3.  This  engagement,  however,  was  not  long  kept,  partly  in  con- 
sequence of  the  conduct  of  the  Thebans  themselves,  who,  after 
Epaminondas  had  returned  home,  sent  commissioners  to  reverse 
much  of  what  he  had  wisely  done,  and  thus  irritated  deeply  the 
party  in  Achaia  which  favored  Sparta,  and  which  ultimately  gained 
the  ascendency. 

4.  The  consequence  was,  that,  in  concert  with  the  Lacedaemonians, 
the  Achaiak?s  ravaged  Arcadia,  a  state  still  in  alliance  with  Thebes, 
though  habitually  jealous  of  any  attempt  made  by  it  to  attain  an  undue 
elevation.  No  other  event  of  importance  distinguished  the  progress 
of  the  war  for  some  time,  though  the  animosity  between  the  'wo 
states  chiefly  concerned  had  lost  none  of  its  pristine  bitterness. 

5.  But  the  secondary  or  subordinate  agents  in  the  contest  were 
thoroughly  wearied  of  the  continual  sacrifices  they  were  called  upon 
to  make,  without  even  a  hope  of  advantage,  to  themselves.  Disgusted 
with  their  respective  allies,  the  Athenians  and  Arcadians  entered  into 
an  alliance  for  their  mutual  benefit  and  defence. 

6.  Corinth,  Achaia,  and  Phlius  —  communities  which  had  been 
faithful  allies  to  Sparta,  alike  in  adversity  and  prosperity  —  petitioned 
that  republic  either  to  consent  to  the  pacification  lately  proposed  by 
Thehes,  or,  at  least,  if  Sparta  could  not  assent  with  honor  to  the 
cession  of  Messenia,  to  permit  them  to  conclude  with  the  latter  state 
a  separate  treaty  for  themselves. 

7.  Instigated  by  the  ardent  eloquence  of  Archidamus,  the  son  of 
Agesilaus,  the  Spartans,  declining  and  deserted  as  their  cause  and 
fortunes  were,  haughtily  replied,  that  they  never  would  acknowledge 
the  independence  of  Messenia,  but  that  their  allies  might  act  as  best 
beseemed  them.  At  first,  the  Thebans  would  only  accede  to  an 
accommodation  with  Corinth,  Achaia,  and  Phlius,  on  condition  of 

C.  —  1.  What  of  the  conduct  of  Epaminondas  ?  Did  he  participate  in  intrigue? 
2.  What  of  his  invasion  of  the  Peloponnesus?  To  what  did  he  bind  the  inhabitants  of 
Achaia  ?    3.  Why  waa  this  engagement  not  kept  long? 

4.  What  was  the  consequence?  Was  the  war  distinguished  by  any  other  event  of 
Importance?  5.  What  of  the  secondary  agents  in  the  contest?  What  alliance  was 
entered  into  ?    6.  What  petition  was  made  to  the  Spartans  ? 

7.  How  did  they  reply?    On  what  condition  would  the  Thebans  yield  ?    What  was 


HEATH  OF   PELOPIDAS.  273 

heir  joining-  the  confederacy  against  Sparta.  To  this  proposition  the 
applicants  would  not  agree,  and  Thebes  ultimately  saw  fit  to  grant  to 
them  the  neutrality  they  so  much  desired. 

8.  By  this  event  the  Spartans  were  left  without  any  influential  ana 
potent  ally  excepting  the  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  Dionysius  the  younger, 
who  sent,  about  this  time,  in  fulfilment  of  his  father's  engagements,  a 
considerable  force  to  the  assistance  of  Lacedaemon.  That  republic, 
however,  appears  now  to  have  been  so  far  tamed  bj  adversity  as  to 
look  only  to  the  defence  of  the  Peloponnesus. 

9.  This  region,  in  the  mean  time,  stood  in  no  danger  of  a  hostile 
visitation  from  Thebes.  Alexander  of  Thessaly,  the  same  perfidious 
tyrant  who  had  formerly  been  curbed  in  his  cruel  oppressions  by 
Pelopidas  and  Epaminondas,  had  since  that  period  recovered  the 
power  of  which  he  had'  been  deprived,  and  once  more  tyrannized  over 
the  frontier  cities  of  Thessaly  and  Bceotia  with  such  a  degree  of 
severity  that  the  Thebans  found  it  again  incumbent  on  them  to  inter- 
fere. 

10.  Pelopidas  was  sent  with  ten  thousand  men  to  Thessaly,  where 
he  was  joined  by  numbers  of  those  who  had  suffered  from  Alexan- 
der's barbarity.  At  the  foot  of  the  mountains  of  Cynoscephalae,  the 
tyrant,  at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand  men,  encountered  the  Theban 
forces,  and  was  (364  B.  C.)  defeated. 

11.  But  the  brave  and  patriotic  leader  of  the  conquerors  fell  a  vic- 
tim to  his  own  gallantry.  Seeing  Alexander  at  no  great  distance 
from  him  in  the  battle,  the  gallant  Theban  dashed  forward,  almost 
alone,  and  dared  the  Thessalian  oppressor  to  single  combat.  The 
cowardly  despot  shrunk  behind  his  guards,  who  poured  a  shower  of 
javelins  on  Pelopidas,  and  slew  him  ere  his  friends  could  advance  to 
his  rescue. 

12.  Though  the  Thebans  are  said  to  have  gained  another  victory 
over  Alexander,  the  death  of  their  favorite  commander  appears  to 
have  prevented  them  from  following  up  their  successes  to  such  advan- 
tage as  they  might  otherwise  have  done,  for  we  find  that,  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war  in  Thessaly,  they  were  contented  to  leave  the  tyrant 
in  undisputed  possession  of  his  own  original  demesne  of  Pherae. 


CHAPTER   CI. 

Olympic  Festival.  —  Death  of  Epaminondas. 

1.  The  Peloponnesus,  in  the  interval,  was  not  at  peace,  though, 
owing  to  the  employment  of  their  arms  in  Thessaly,  and  also  to  a 
dangerous  outbreak  of  the  aristocratical  faction  at  home,  which  ter- 
minated in  the  destruction  of  the  neighboring  city  of  Orchomenus, 

•jltimately  done?    8.   In  what  situation  were  the  Spartans  now  left?     What  of  Dionysius 
theyounser?     9.    What  of  Alexander  of  Thessaly  ? 

10.  With  what  number  of  troops  was  Pelopidas  sent  to  Thessaly?  Where  was  the 
battle  fought?  The  result?  11.  The  death  of  Pelopidas ?  12.  What  appears  to  have 
been  the  consequence  of  his  deatb  7 

18 


274  PERIOD  IV.— 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C 

where  the  conspiracy  had  sprung  up,  the  Thebans  had  their  hand* 
too  full  of  other  business,  to  carry  the  war  at  this  moment  across  tlifl 
Corinthian  isthmus. 

2.  It  has  bppn  mentioned  that  the  Arcadians,  allies  as  they  were 
of  Thebes,  were  equally  jealous  of  Theban  as  of  Spartan  domina- 
tion. In  truth,  the  confederated  cities  of  Arcadia,  as  they  had  grown 
powerful,  had  become  ambitious  ;  and  when  they  assisted  Thebes 
against  Sparta,  they  did  it  only  with  a  view  of  establishing  for  them- 
selves, upon  the  ruins  of  the  latter  power,  an  uncontrolled  ascendency 
in  the  Peloponnesus. 

3.  Actuated  by  this  unworthy  motive,  they  (364  B.  C.)  turned 
their  arms  against  the  Elians,  the  possessors  of  the  opposite  or  west- 
ern coast  of  the  Peloponnesus.  Peaceful  in  their  habits,  the  Elians 
found  themselves  unable  to  repel  their  aggressors,  and  besought 
assistance  from  Sparta 


Olympian  ga/uts. 

4.  The  desired  succors  were  granted  without  delay,  but  the  Arca- 
dians still  continued  to  push  their  conquests  vigorously  in  the  Elian 
territory,  gaining  one  towr.  after  another,  until  the  sacred  city  of 
Olympia,  the  pride  of  the  Peloponnesus,  fell  into  their  hands.  A 
suspension  of  hostilities  then  took  place,  in  order  to  permit  the  cele- 

CI.  —  1.  What  was  the  situation  of  the  Peloponnesus,  in  the  mean  time?  2.  What  of 
the  Arcadians  ?  The  cities  of  Arcadia?  3.  What  of  their  attack  upon  the  Elians?  To 
whom  did  the  latter  apply  for  assistance? 

4.   Was  this  granted?    What  of  the  victories  of  the  Arc«1an9>    The  capture  o' 


PLUNDER  OF  THE  OLYMPIAN  SHRINE.  27f) 

bration  of  the  hundred  and  fourth  Olympiad,  to  which  festival  a  grea* 
concourse  of  people  came  from  all  parts  of  Greece. 

5.  With  the  exception  of  a  bold  and  unsuccessful  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  Elians  to  surprise  their  conquerors  in  an  unguarded  mo- 
ment, the  games  and  solemnities  passed  off  with  as  much  eclat,  as  if 
the  city  had  been  in  the  hands  of  its  natural  possessors.  When  the 
festive  assemblage  had  dispersed,  some  of  the  Arcadian  leaders, 
tempted  by  avarice  and  opportunity,  laid  hands  on  the  rich  treasures, 
which  the  superstition  of  centuries  had  heaped  around  the  Olympian 
shrine. 

6.  Others  of  the  generals  were  shocked  at  the  sacrilegious,  jet,  and 
this  feeling  was  so  strongly  participated  in  by  the  majority  of  the  con- 
federated cities  of  Arcadia,  when  the  spoliation  became  known  to 
them,  that  they  decreed  the  restitution  not  only  of  the  sacred  treas- 
ures, but  also  of  the  sacred  city  itself,  to  the  Elians,  whom  they  more- 
over invited  to  send  a  deputation  to  Tegea,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
cluding a  peace. 

7.  The  fear  of  drawing  down  the  vengeance  of  the  gods  appears 
to  have  been  the  cause  of  this  turn  of  affairs,  which  was  no  less 
agreeable  to  the  people  of  Elis,  than  it  was  distasteful  to  the  persons 
who  had  shared  in  the  plunder  of  the  shrine.  Of  the  number  of  these 
was  the  commander  of  the  Theban  garrison  at  Tegea.  the  city  in 
which  the  Arcadian  and  Elian  deputies  met  to  arrange  the  conditions 
of  a  peace. 

8.  When  the  peace  had  been  agreed  upon,  the  deputies  sat  down, 
according  to  custom,  to  an  entertainment  prepared  for  them,  and  every- 
thing wore  the  appearance  of  unity  and  concord,  when  suddenly  the 
unsuspecting  representatives  of  Arcadia  and  Elis  were  seized  by  a 
body  of  armed  men,  and  thrown  into  confinement. 

9.  The  principal  actor  in  this  affair  was  the  Theban  captain,  insti 
gated  by  others  in  the  same  predicament  as  himself  with  respect  to  the 
sacred  treasures.  Intimidated  by  the  threatening  attitude  assumed  in 
consequence  by  the  Arcadian  cities,  the  Theban  speedily  released  his 
prisoners,  but  he  could  not  so  easily  undo  the  injury  which  his  coun- 
try had  sustained  by  his  imprudence. 

10.  The  good  will  of  half  of  Arcadia  was  alienated  from  Thebes 
on  this  occasion  ;  and  the  more  so,  because,  on  being  applied  to  for 
redress  of  the  outrage  inflicted,  the  Thebans  did  not  discountenance 
the  act  of  the  Tegean  garrison,  but  declared  that  they  should  speedily 
send  an  army  to  restore  order. 

11.  Indignant  at  this  haughty  and  menacing  conduct,  the  Arca- 
dians applied  for  assistance  from  Athens  and  Sparta,  and  prepared 
vigorously  to  defend  their  territories  against  their  late  ally.  In 
accordance  with  their  intimation,  the  Thebans  and  a  strong  confed- 


Olympia?  The  Olympian  games  ?  5.  How  did  the  games  pass  off  ?  What  was  done 
by  some  of  the  Arcadian  leaders?  6.  How  was  this  act  regarded  by  others  !  What  was 
decreed  in  regard  to  the  treasures  and  city  ? 

7.  What  was  the  cause  of  this  turn  in  affairs  ?  How  was  it  looked  upon  by  the  differ- 
ent parties?  8.  What  happened  at  the  entertainment  given  to  the  deputies?  9.  Who 
was  the  principal  actor  in  this  affair?  What  was  the  result  of  this  action?  10.  What 
«f  the  alienation  of  Arcadia  from  Thebes? 

". J .  What  did  the  Arcadians  now  do  ?    The  Thebans  ar  d  their  allies  ?    Epaminondas  J 


t'76  PERIOD  IV.  —  404  B.  C    TO  146  B.  C. 

orate  force  of  Boeotians,  Thessalians,  and  Eubceans,  took  the  field 
(363  B.  C.)  under  their  tried  and  favorite  general,  Epannnondas,  who 
led  them  without  delay  into  Arcadia,  halting  at  Tegea,  where  he 
expected  to  be  joined  by  some,  at  least,  of  his  old  fellow-soldiers  of 
the  province. 

1^.  Though  disappointed  in  this  anticipation,  the  Theban  was  not 
the  less  bold  in  his  operations,  or  distrustful  of  their  issue.  Learning 
that  the  Lacedaemonians  under  Agesilaus  were  advancing  to  join  the 
Arcadian  confederacy  at  Mantinaea,  Epaminondas  decamped  in  the 
night-time,  and  made  a  dash  against  Sparta,  which  must  have  ended 
in  the  total  ruin  of  that  city,  had  not  a  Cretan  deserter  apprized  Ages- 
ilaus of  the  Theban  general's  purpose,  in  time  to  permit  the  old  king 
and  his  son  to  return  to  the  defence  of  their  household  gods. 

13.  Foiled  in  this  enterprise  by  the  betrayal  of  his  design,  and  by 
the  desperate  valor  of  the  Spartans,  Epaminondas,  resolute  to  do 
something  worthy  of  his  renown,  next  marched  upon  Mantinaea,  elud- 
ing, by  his  rapid  evolutions,  the  Arcadians  and  their  allies,  who  had 
moved  to  the  relief  of  Sparta. 

14.  Mantinaea,  thus  left  unprotected,  must  have  fallen  a  prey  to  the 
Thebans,  had  not  fortune,  as  if  to  baffle  the  designs  of  their  leader, 
brought  to  the  city,  a  few  hours  before  his  arrival,  a  strong  squadron 
of  Athenian  cavalry,  to  whose  determined  bravery  the  safety  of  the 
place  was  owing.  The  Arcadian  confederates  shortly  after  returned 
to  their  position  at  Mantinaea ;  and  Epaminondas,  eager  to  wipe  away 
the  memory  of  his  late  failures,  came  to  the  resolution  of  hazarding  a 
general  engagement. 

15.  His  preparations  for  this  conflict,  and  his  conduct  throughout 
the  day,  have  been  regarded  by  all  historians  as  indicative  of  consum- 
mate military  skill.  After  deceiving  the  enemy  by  a  show  of  declin- 
ing an  engagement,  Epaminondas  suddenly  formed  his  troops  into  a 
wedge-like  phalanx,  as  at  Leuctra,  and  pierced  their  lines,  almost  ere 
they  had  time  to  resume  the  arms  which  they  had  rashly  laid  aside. 
A  bloody  struggle  ensued,  in  which  the  Thebans  were  completely 
successful,  as  long  as  their  leader  was  at  their  head  to  point  the  way 
to  victory. 

16.  But  in  the  heat  of  the  battle,  Epaminondas  received  a  mortal 
wound,  and  was  carried  aside  by  his  friends,  after  which  the  conflict 
became  so  confused,  that  both  parties,  at  its  conclusion,  claimed  the 
honors  of  the  day.  The  Theban  commander  lived  for  a  short  time 
after  the  tumult  of  battle  had  ceased,  and  then  died,  calmly  and  cheer- 
fully, in  the  arms  of  his  weeping  countrymen,  leaving  behind  him  a 
name  second  to  none  in  the  annals  of  Greece. 

17.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Persian  king,  who  still  wished  to 
levy  men  for  his  service  in  Egypt,  overtures  for  a  general  peace  were 
now  once  more  made  to  the  states  of  Greece.     Sparta  alone  with- 

12.  What  did  he  learn  of  the  Lacedaemonians?  What  did  he  then  do?  How  was  his 
design  frustrated?  13.  What  was  Epaminondas  resolute  to  do?  Where  did  he  next 
march?  14.  What  of  the  defence  of  Mantinaea  ?  What  did  Epaminondas  determine  to 
do?  15.  What  of  his  preparation  for  the  conflict?  What  of  the  onset?  The  struggle? 
16.  The  death  of  Epaminondas  ?  Who  claimed  the  honors  of  the  day  ? 
17.   What  overtures  were  now  made  by  the  Persian  king  J    Why  did  Sparta  withhold 


DEATH  OF  EPAMINONDAS. 


277 


held  her  assent  to  the  new  treaty,  because  it  recognized  the  indepen- 
dence of  Messenia.  Moreover,  irritated  seemingly  by  the  conduct  of 
Artaxerxes,  Agesilaus  passed  over  into  Egypt,  at  the  head  of  one 
thousand  Lacedaemonians  and  ten  thousand  mercenaries,  with  the  view 
of  assisting  the  usurper  of  the  Egyptian  throne  to  maintain  his  ground 
it  the  Persians. 


Death  of  Epaminondas. 

18.  This,  at  least,  was  one  motive  tor  the  extraordinary  step  taker 
by  a  decrepid  man,  above  eighty  years  of  age.  The  hope  of  accumu- 
lating funds  sufficient  to  restore  the  declining  fortunes  of  his  country, 
was  perhaps  another  inducement  for  Agesilaus  to  become  a  hireling 
soldier  ;  and,  unquestionably,  this  view  is  the  most  honorable  which 
can  be  taken  of  his  conduct. 

19.  Aged  as  he  was,  he  warred  in  Egypt  with  all  his  wonted 
ability,  and  placed  on  the  throne  of  that  country  a  prince  named  Nec- 
tanebus,  who  bestowed  on  him  an  ample  reward.  Agesilaus  was  on 
his  way  home,  when  he  died  (361  B.  C.)  at  Cyrenaica,  on  the  African 
coast,  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  forty-first  of  his 


her  assent?     What  of  Agesilaus?     18.    What  motives  induced  him  to  this  slepl 
What  was  his  nuccess  in  Egypt  ?    His  death  ? 
24 


27S  PERIOD  IV.— 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  & 

CHAPTER   CII. 

Philip  of  Macedon. 

1.  Before  reverting:  to  the  internal  history  of  the  Grecian  republics, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  bring  fully  before  the  eye  of  the  reader  a  power, 
which  hitherto  has  only  called  for  an  incidental  allusion,  but  which, 
at  this  period,  began  to  assume  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  affairs  of 
Greece. 

2.  The  principality  of  Macedon  originally  consisted  of  a  small  inland 
track  of  country,  bounded  on  the  north,  east,  and  west,  by  the  bar- 
barous kingdoms  of  Pa?onia,  Jllyricum,  and  Thrace,  and  separated 
from  the  Archipelago  on  the  south  by  a  chain  of  Grecian  republics,  of 
which  Olynthus  and  Amphipolis  were  the  most  powerful.  Caranus, 
an  Argive  prince,  was  the  founder  o'f  the  Macedonian  settlement, 
which,  through  a  period  of  more  than  four  hundred  years,  had  main- 
tained its  position  in  spite  of  its  savage  and  dangerous  neighbors. 

3.  The  possessor  of  the  throne,  during  the  latter  years  of  the  war 
between  Thehes  and  Sparta,  was  Perdiccas,  who  owed  his  elevation 
to  the  assistance  received  from  Pelopidas,  the  Theban.  Perdiccas  was 
slain  in  battle  by  the  Illyrians,  and  left  to  his  infant  son  a  kingdom 
occupied  by  enemies,  and  wasted  by  internal  divisions.  At  this  junc- 
ture, Philip,  the  late  king's  brother,  stepped  forward,  and  asserted  the 
rights  of  his  nephew,  in  opposition  to  several  pretenders,  who,  accord- 
ing to  custom,  took  advantage  of  the  troubled  times  to  Jay  claim  to  the 
sovereignty. 

4.  Philip  was  not  a  man  to  be  deterred  from  his  purpose  by  danger 
or  difficulty.  Gifted  by  nature  with  very  superior  powers  of  mind,  his 
residence  at  Thebes  in  his  boyhood,  as  an  hostage,  had  permitted  him 
to  enjoy  the  instruction  of  Epaminondas,  in  whose  house  he  is  said  to 
have  been  brought  up,  and  whose  warlike  skill  he  most  probably  had 
many  opportunities  of  witnessing. 

5.  Repeated  visits  to  the  leading  republics  of  Greece  had  added  to 
the  advantages  thus  early  possessed,  by  enabling  the  Macedonian 
prince  to  examine  the  most  civilized,  institutions,  and  to  form  a  per- 
sonal acquaintance  with  the  greatest  philosophers  and  captains  of  the 
day.  When  it  is  added  that  Philip  was  in  the  bloom  of  youth,  pleas- 
ing in  appearance,  and  engaging  in  manners,  it  is  scarcely  to  be  won- 
dered at  that  he  should  speedily  have  wrested  the  affections  of  the 
Macedonians  from  his  semi-barbarous  rivals. 

6.  These  pretenders  to  the  throne,  however,  were  supported  by  the 
Thracians,  who  had  invaded  Macedon  on  the  west  after  the  death  of 
Perdiccas,  as  the  Paeonians  and  Illyrians  had  done  on  the  north.  The 
hostility  of  all  these  enemies  Philip  contrived  to  disarm  by  bribes, 
promises,  and  flattery — weapons  for  the  use  of  which  he  became  famous 

CII.  —  1.  What  power  must  now  be  mentioned?  2.  Whatof  the  principality  of  Mace 
don?  Its  boundaries  ?  Who  had  founded  this  settlement?  3.  What  of  Perdiccas?  Wha 
did  he  leave  to  his  son  ?  What  of  Philip?  4.  Where  had  he  been  educated  ?  5.  What 
•iher  advantages  had  he  received?     What  of  his  appearance?    6.  By  whom  were  the 


PHILIP  OF  MACEDON.  i>79 

in  after  years,  and  which,  even  in  youth,  he  wielded  with  the  hand  of 
a  master. 

7.  Perhaps  the  warlike  spirit  and  courage  which  undoubtedly  dis- 
tinguished his  character,  might  have  tempted  him,  unsettled  as  his 
authority  was,  to  employ  arms  instead  of  craft  against  his  barbarian 
neighbors,  had  not  another  danger  lowered  upon  him  at  the  moment, 
of  a  nature  likely  to  occupy  his  whole  means  of  resistance.  His  hands 
were  strengthened  for  this  new  encounter,  by  his  elevation  (360  or  350 
B.  C.)  from  the  regency  to  the  throne,  the  precariousness  of  an  infant 
reign  being  considered  by  the  people  as  ill  suited  to  the  temper  of  the 
time. 

8.  Athens  was  the  quarter  whence  Philip's  new  difficulties  threat- 
ened to  issue.  Having  acted  as  an  auxiliary  only  during  the  contest 
that  terminated  at  Mantinaea,  while  Sparta  and  Thebes  had  put  forth 
and  exhausted  their  whole  strength  and  resources,  the  Athenian  re- 
public found  itself,  at  the  declaration  of  peace,  once  more  at  the  head 
of  the  Grecian  states,  both  as  respected  population  and  means. 

9.  With  the  return  of  prosperity,  unfortunately,  the  pride  and  profli- 
gacy of  its  citizens  had  also  returned  ;  corruption  reigned  in  the  court, 
the  senate,  and  the  assembly ;  the  property  of  the  good  and  innocent 
at  home  was  confiscated  to  feed  the  craving  vices  of  the  populace  ;  and, 
abroad,  the  tributary  allies  of  the  state  were  grievously  and  unscrupu- 
lously taxed  to  supply  the  same  insatiable  demands. 

10.  Such  was  the  condition  of  the  prosperous  yet  miserable  republic 
of  the  Athenians  at  the  death  of  Perdiccas,  who  had  given  them  deep 
offence  by  disputing  their  right  to  Amphipolis,  a  city  acknowledged 
as  their  dependency  by  the  general  council  of  Greece.  Having  this 
ground  of  dislike  to  Perdiccas,  the  Athenians  continued  their  hostility 
to  his  brother  and  successor,  and  sent  an  armament  to  assist  Argaeus, 
the  principal  pretender  to  the  Macedonian  throne. 

11  Philip  met  his  rival  in  the  field,  slew  him,  and  took  captive  his 
Athenian  allies.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  young  king  first  dis- 
played in  its  full  extent  that  deep  and  artful  policy  which  made  his 
long  career  so  splendid  and  successful.  Instead  of  exhibiting  anger 
against  his  Athenian  prisoners,  he  treated  them  with  the  utmost  kind 
ness  and  respect,  restored  their  property,  and  sent  them  all  home,  un 
ransomed,  and  full  of  admiration  for  his  character  and  conduct. 

12.  This  wise,  and,  it  may  be,  generous  behavior,  had  its  due  and 
intended  effect.  When  Philip's  ambassadors  presented  themselves  at 
Athens  with  proposals  of  peace,  the  republic  at  once  gave  its  assent. 
One  enemy  thus  skilfully  removed,  Philip  turned  his  attention  to  his 
northern  neighbors,  the  Paeonians,  whose  sovereign  died  at  this  critical 
moment  without  heirs. 

13.  Profiting  by  the  opportunity,   the  Macedonian  king   entered 

pretenders  to  the  throne  supported  ?  How  did  Philip  disarm  their  hostility  ?  7.  What  of 
the  danger  which  now  threatened  him?  His  elevation  to  the  throne  ?  &.  In  what  situa- 
tion was  Athens  now?  To  what  was  this  owing?  9.  What  of  its  internal  condition? 
10.  What  of  its  hostility  to  Perdiccas?  Did  it  retain  this  feeling  when  Philip  ascended 
.he  throne  ?     What  armament  did  the  Athenians  send  out? 

11.  What  was  the  result  of  the  battle?  How  did  he  treat  his  Athenian  captives? 
12    What  was  the  effect  of  this  action?     Were  the  terms  of  peace  accepted?     Whero 


2S0  PERIOD  IV.  — 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

Paeonia,  and  found  little  difficulty  in  reducing  its  inhabitants  to  subjec- 
tion, and  annexing  their  territory  to  his  own.  His  forces  and  influ- 
ence being  greatly  augmented  by  this  acquisition,  he  then  inflicted  on 
the  country  of  the  Illyrians  a  severe  retribution  for  their  recent  inva- 
sion of  Macedon,  and  compelled  them  humbly  to  sue  for  peace.  Thus, 
in  the  course  of  two  years,  did  the  extraordinary  activity  and  address 
of  one  man,  and  that  a  mere  youth,  not  only  heal  the  gaping  wounds 
of  his  country,  but  also  raise  her  to  a  far  more  vigorous  and  sound 
condition  than  it  was  ever  her  fortune  previously  to  enjoy. 


CHAPTER  CII1. 

Athens.  —  The  Social  War. 

1.  Before  proceeding  with  the  narrative  of  Philip's  ambitious 
career,  the  affairs  of  Athens  demand  a  passing  remark.  The  allied 
dependencies  of  that  republic  bore  long  and  patiently  the  system  of 
exaction  formerly  alluded  to,  but  their  patience  gave  way  at  last. 

2.  Acting  in  concert  with  several  minor  communities,  the  isles  of 
Chios,  Cos,  Rhodes,  and  the  city  of  Byzantium,  after  having  duly 
prepared  themselves  for  the  consequences,  transmitted  (358  B.  C.) 
a  joint  declaration  to  the  Athenian  government,  that,  "  as  they  now 
needed  and  derived  no  assistance  or  protection  from  Athens,  the 
tribute  hitherto  paid  in  return  for  such  countenance  could  no  longer  be 
required."  This  message  excited  great  indignation  in  the  party  ad- 
dressed, and  a  fleet  was  ordered  out  to  check  the  rebellious  spirit  of 
the  allies. 

3.  The  chief  instigator  of  this  measure  was  Chares,  a  man  of  profli- 
gate character,  and  one  of  the  principal  abettors  of  those  oppressive 
impositions  which  had  caused  the  revolt.  To  this  popular  favorite 
was  committed  the  conduct  of  the  Social  War,  as  it  was  called  ;  Timo- 
theus  and  Iphicrates,  the  ablest  captains  then  in  Greece,  being  passed 
over,  on  account  of  their  known  inclination  for  conciliatory  and  not 
hostile  measures  on  this  occasion. 

4.  The  only  man  of  note  and  ability  on  board  of  the  fleet  was  Cha- 
brias,  and  to  him  alone  was  the  expedition  productive  of  honor,  though 
the  acquisition  of  it  cost  him  his  life.  When  the  Athenians  arrived 
at  Chios,  their  commander,  Chares,  found  himself  unable  to  carry  his 
squadron  into  the  harbor,  from  the  vigorous  opposition  offered  by  the 
revolted  confederates,  who  had  assembled  on  the  island  in  force. 

5.  Chabrlas  alone  penetrated  into  the  little  bay  with  the  single  ship 
entrusted  to  him  ;  but  his  men,  finding  themselves  unsupported,  leapt 

did  Philip  now  turn  his  attention?     13.  Did  he  succeed  in  reducing  Paeonia?     What  of 
the  Illyrians?     What  had  Philip  done  in  two  years? 

CflL— 1.  Whatof  the  allies  of  Athens?    2.  What  islands  and  cities  revolted  ?     What 
message  was  sent  to  Athens  by  them?    What  was  the  effect?     3.  Who  had  proposed 
this  measure?     Who  took  charge  of  the  war?    Why  were  more  skilful  generals  passed 
over  ?    4.  To  whom  alone  did  the  expedition  bring  honor  ?   What  was  the  reason  of  this 
5.  What  of  the  deaf  h  of  Chabrias  ?    6.  What  of  the  subsequent  operations  of  Chares 


THE  SOCIAL  WAR.  2S] 

itilo  the  sea  and  swam  back  to  the  fleet,  leaving  their  brave  leader, 
who  preferred  death  to  dishonor,  to  fall  by  the  darls  of  the  enemy. 

6.  The  subsequent  operations  of  ClTttres  were  not  more  successful 
than  this  attack  upon  Crrtbs.  A  new  fleet  was  sentjo  his  assistance, 
under  the  command  of  MnEstlfeus,  who  had  IjitTicrates,  his  father,  and 
Timotheus,  his  father-in-law,  as  his  counsellors,  although  neither  of 
the  two  veterans  held  any  high  official  post  in  the  expedition. 

7.  On  the  junction  of  the  two  fleets,  it  was  determined  to  lay  siege 
to  Byzantium,  with  the  view  of  bringing  out  the  whole  strength  of  the 
confederates  to  its  defence.  The  scheme  was  successful ;  the  allies 
rnpidly  collected  all  their  naval  forces,  and  appeared  before  Byzantium. 
A  violent  storm,  however,  arose,  which  rendered  it  unadvisable  and 
impracticable,  in  the  opinion  of  Timotheus  and  Iphicrates,  for  the 
Athenians  to  bear  up  to  the  enemy. 

8.  Chares,  on  the  other  hand,  confidently  insisted  on  rushing  to  the 
attack,  in  spite  of  the  risk  of  shipwreck  and  other  difficulties  dreaded 
by  his  companions.  His  opinions  were  overruled.  The  consequence 
was,  that  he  instantly  despatched  messengers  to  Athens,  branding 
Timotheus  and  Iphicrates  with  every  opprobrious  epithet  which  he 
could  invent.  The  objects  of  his  spite  were  recalled,  and  tried  for 
neglect  of  duty. 

9.  Ttrnotheus  was  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of  one  hundred  talents 
($100,000)  to  the  state  —  a  sentence  which  drove  this  worthy  de- 
scendant, of  Conon  and  Miltiades  into  banishment.  Less  scrupulous 
than  his  fellow-victim ,Tprric7ates  is  said  to  have  overawed  his  judges 
by  filling  the  court  with  armed  friends,  and  thus  forced  an  acquittal. 
He,  nevertheless,  retired  like  Timotheus  from  the  ungrateful  city  of 
his  birth,  and  neither  of  them  ever  took  part  in  future  in  her  affairs. 

10.  After  thus  ridding  himself  of  his  colleagues,  Chares  roamed 
about  the  seas,  attended  by  a  crowd  of  singers,  dancers,  and  harlots, 
without  giving  himself  any  concern  about  the  conduct  of  the  war.  In 
truth,  instead  of  benefiting  his  country,  he  ultimately  brought  down 
upon  her  the  anger  of  Persia,  by  hiring  himself  and  his  troops  to  aid 
the  designs  of  a  rebellious  satrap  of  Ionia. 

11.  Alarmed  by  a  threatening  missive  from  Artaxerxes  Ochus,  the 
Athenians  recalled  (356  B.  C.)  their  fleet,  thus  tacitly  leaving  the 
revolted  confederates  in  possession  of  the  independence  for  which  they 
had  combated.  Other  causes  also  operated  to  induce  Athens  to  sub- 
mit tamely  for  the  time  to  this  grievous  diminution  of  her  empire  and 
resources. 

What  was  sent  to  his  assistance?  7.  What  plan  was  determined  on  ?  Was  the  scham? 
successful?  What  did  the  veteran  generals  think  of  risking  an  engagement?  8.  What 
did  Chares  insist  on  doing?     Wh.it  message  did  he  send  to  Athens? 

9.  What  was  Timotheus  condemned  to  pay  ?  What  of  Iphicrates?  Their  future  life  1 
10.  What  of  Chares  afler  the  departure  of  his  colleagues?  What  of  Persia?  11.  What 
lid  |he  Athenians  now  do? 

24* 


1S2  PERIOD  IV.  -404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  0 

CHAPTER   CIV 

Amphipolis  taken  by  Philip.  —  His  Marriage. 

1.  Philip,  after  mastering-  his  barbarous  neighbors,  and  securing 
lis  northern  frontiers,  had  turned  his  attention  to  the  south,  and  har 

commenced,  during  the  expedition  of  Chares,  those  encroachment 
which  were  destined  to  end  only  with  the  subjugation  of  all  Greece. 

2.  His  first  movements  were  wily  as  those  of  the  serpent.  Olyn- 
thus and  Amphipolis,  being  the  most  important  of  the  confederated 
republics  that  lay  between  Macedon  and  the  sea,  naturally  attracted 
his  first  regards.  Upon  Amphipolis,  which  Philip  was  determined  to 
master  in  the  first  instance,  the  Athenians,  it  will  be  remembered,  had 
strong  claims. 

3.  To  prevent  their  opposition  until  his  designs  were  accomplished, 
Philip  amused  them  with  the  belief  that  he  was  about  to  conquer  the 
city  for  them,  and  the  Athenians,  intent  at  the  moment  on  the  Social 
War,  suffered  themselves  to  become  his  dupes,  though  they  could  not 
be  blind  to  the  probable  issue. 

4.  Another  preparatory  step  was,  to  detach  the  Olynthians  frorr 
their  alliance  with  Amphipolis.  His  attack  upon  the  city  was  met  by 
the  Amphipolitans  with  great  valor  :  but  they  were  ultimately  com- 
pelled (358  B.  C.)  to  surrender  at  discretion. 

5.  Philip  behaved  to  the  vanquished  with  equal  policy  and  gener- 
osity. A  few  only  of  the  most  violent  authors  and  abettors  cf  the 
resistance  to  him  were  banished  ;  the  rest  of  the  citizens  were  mildl> 
treated,  and  the  commonwealth  was  incorporated  with  Macedon,  to 
which,  from  its  marine  situation,  it  formed  a  valuable  acquisition. 

6.  After  this  event,  Philip  assiduously  cultivated  the  good  graces 
of  the  Olynthians  ;  feeling  that,  with  their  assistance,  he  might  almost 
defy  the  utmost  wrath  of  the  Athenian  republic,  which  he  could  not 
hope  much  longer  to  deceive  with  respect  to  his  real  views. 

7.  The  Athenians,  however,  were  still  too  much  occupied  other- 
wise to  examine  intently  into  the  true  character  of  the  man  who  kept 
continually  feeding  their  vanity  with  conciliatory  messages  and  flatter- 
ing promises,  while  his  acts  bore,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  a  very  ambig- 
uous aspect.  For,  in  addition  to  his  retention  of  Amphipolis,  the 
King  of  Macedon  captured  the  Athenian  fortress  of  Potidaea,  and  sent 
home  the  garrison,  expressing,  at  the  same  time,  a  polite  regret  that 
his  alliance  with  Olynthus  rendered  such  a  step  incumbent  upon  one 
who  entertained  so  sincere  a  respect,  as  he  did,  for  the  Athenian 
republic. 

8.  Finding  that  state  still  tolerant  of  his  deeds,  Philip  profited  by 
their  inaction  to  visit  Thrace,  a  portion  of  which,  containing  valuable 

CIV.  —  I.  Where  had  Philip  now  turned  his  attention  ?  2.  What  of  his  first  move- 
ments? Olynthus  and  Amphipolis?  How  did  Philip  prevent  the  opposition  of  the 
Athenians?  4.  What  other  steps  did  he  take?  What  of  the  attack  upon  Amphipolis? 
The  result?    5.  How  did  Philip  treat  the  vanquished? 

6.  How  did  he  behave  toward  the  Olynthians?  7.  Why  were  the  Athenians  too  much 
occupied  to  examine  into  his  character?     What  of  the  rapture  of  Potidaea?    8.  Wh?* 


MARRIAGE  OF   PHILIP.  283 

gold  mines,  he  annexed  to  his  dominions.  He  next  entered  Thessaly, 
which  he  liberated  from  the  cruel  despotism  of  three  tyrants,  the 
brothers-in-law,  and  likewise  the  assassins,  of  the  late  Alexander  of 
Pherae. 

9.  So  grateful  were  the  Thessalians  for  this  deliverance,  that  they 
made  Philip  their  sovereign  in  every  respect,  but  the  name,  ceding  to 
him  a  great  proportion  of  their  revenues,  and  placing  at  his  command 
all  the  conveniences  of  their  harbors  and  shipping.  The  value  of  this 
grant  was  great,  and  the  Macedonian  prince  well  knew  how  to  make 
it  permanent. 

10.  Of  the  vast  importance,  also,  of  his  Thracian  acquisitions  some 
idea  may  be  formed  from  the  fact,  that,  by  his  able  dispositions  rela- 
tive to  the  working  of  the  gold  mines,  he  managed  to  extract  from  them 
not  less  than  a  thousand  talents  —  about  a  million  of  dollars  —  annu- 
ally. 

11.  The  triumphant  Prince  of  Macedon  now  thought  of  a  consort 
for  his  throne.  In  one  of  his  excursions  from  Thebes,  he  had  formerly 
seen  and  admired  Olympias,  the  daughter  of  Neoptolemus,  king  of 
the  small  territory  of  Esoire,  on  the  western  frontier  of  Thessaly. 
Thither  he  now  proceeded  as  a  wooer,  and  ere  long  he  had  the  satis- 
faction of  presenting  the  fair  princess  to  his  court  at  Pella. 

12.  While  engaged  in  the  festivities  consequent  upon  this  event, 
Philip  was  suddenly  called  again  to  arms,  by  the  information  sent  to 
him  by  some  of  his  many  emissaries,  that  Illyria,  Paeonia,  and  Thrace, 
were  making  conjunct  preparations  to  emancipate  themselves  from  the 
yoke  he  had  imposed  on  them. 

13.  Sending  Parmenio,  one  of  his  ablest  lieutenants,  to  Illyria,  the 
king  took  the  field  in  person  against  the  Paeonians  and  Thracians. 
Both  these  enterprises  were  successful,  and  the  discontented  provinces 
were  restored  to  quiet  and  submission.  Ere  Philip  returned  home,  he 
received  intelligence  of  his  horses  having  gained  the  chariot-race  at 
the  Olympic  games ;  an  occurrence  which  afforded  him  much  pleas- 
ure, as  it  brought  him,  in  a  measure,  within  the  pale  of  Greek  citizen- 
ship. 

14.  Nearly  at  the  same  moment,  the  still  more  joyful  news  w:as 
brought  to  him,  of  his  queen's  having  given  birth  to  a  son  at  Pella. 
A  letter  written  to  Aristotle  by  the  king  denotes  the  gratification  he 
felt  on  this  occasion,  as  well  as  the  high  estimation  in  which  he  held 
that  philosopher,  whom  he  had  met  and  known  at  Athens. 

15.  "  Know,"  said  the  letter  of  Philip,  "  that  a  son  is  born  to  us  * 
We  thank  the  gods  not  so  much  for  their  gift,  as  for  bestowing  it  at  a 
time  when  Aristotle  lives.  We  assure  ourselves  that  you  will  form 
him  a  prince  worthy  of  his  father,  and  worthy  of  Macedon."  Four- 
teen )ears  after  the  date  of  this  epistle,  (356  B.  C.)  Aristotle  becamo 

)f  Philip's  visit  to  France?    Thessaly?     9.  How  did  the  Thessalians  repay  Philip  for  liia- 
deliverance?     What  was  t'le  value  of  this  grant?     10.  What  of  the  value  of  his  Thra 
cian  acquisitions  ? 

11.  What  did  he  now  think  of?  Whom  had  he  formerly  seen  *»nd  admired?  What 
did  he  soon  do?  12.  What  happened  at  this  time  ?  13.  What  preparations  were  made? 
Were  the  enterprises  successful?  What  intelligence  did  he  receive  from  the  Olympic 
(fames? 

14.  What  news  was  brought  to  him  from  his  queen?    What  of  the  letter   wrilter    bv 


284  1  ERIOD  IV.  —404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

the  instructor  of  Philip's  son  ;  and  much,  unquestionably,  of  the  future 
elory  of  Alexander  the  Great  flowed  from  the  lessons  of  this  illustri 
ous  philosopher. 

16.  The  sway  of  the  Macedonian  king-  now  extended  almost  from 
the  Hadriatic  Gulf  on  the  west,  to  the  Euxine  Sea  on  the  east,  and  was 
confined  only  by  the  mountainous  belt  of  Ptamus  on  the  north,  while 
it  included  the  wide  and  fertile  plains  of  Thessaly  to  the  south.  Over 
this  great  range  of  territory  Philip's  influence  was  predominant,  though 
he  permitted,  in  some  quarters,  a  nominal  sovereignty  to  remain,  tern 
porarily  at  least,  in  the  hands  of  others. 

17.  In  eastern  Thrace,  for  example,  Kersobleptes,  son  of  the 
deceased  Cotys,  possessed  the  title  of  king,  and  in  Byzantium  the 
Athenian  influence  was  still  predominant,  notwithstanding  that  city's 
participation  in  the  advantages  and  independence  accruing  from  the 
Social  War.  Philip  found  himself  obliged  to  act  with  caution  in  his 
assumption  of  dominion  in  Byzantium,  from  the  jealous  care  which 
Athens  extended  to  her  interests  and  commerce  in  that  particular 
region. 

18.  His  desires  were  nevertheless  steadily  fixed  on  the  possession 
of  it;  and,  as  if  to  further  his  designs,  with  respect  to  this  city  and 
Olynthus,  as  well  as  all  the  ulterior  objects  to  which  the  acquisition 
of  them  was  merely  preliminary,  a  new  war  sprung  up  in  the  centre 
of  Greece. 


CHAPTER   CV. 

Proceedings  of  the  Amphictyons.  —  Phocia?i,  or  Sacred  War 
begun.  —  Phocians  routed  by  Philip. 

1.  The  war  alluded  to  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter  had  its  origin 
in  certain  proceedings  of  the  Amphictyonic  council,  a  body  which 
formerly  exercised  a  powerful  influence  on  the  affairs  of  Greece,  and 
which,  after  its  rights  had  long  remained  dormant,  had  begun  to  re- 
assert them  with  vigor,  backed  chiefly  by  the  countenance  of  Thebes. 

2.  Incited  by  the  representatives  of  that  republic,  the  A  mphictyons 
imprudently  revived  the  old  subject  of  the  seizure  of  the  Theban  cita- 
del by  Phc&bidas,  and  imposed  on  Sparta,  for  that  transaction,  a  fine 
of  five  hundred  talents.  To  this  decree  the  Lacedaemonians  paid  no 
attention,  and  neither  the  Amphictyons  nor  the  Thebans  were  power- 
ful enough  to  attempt  its  violent  enforcement. 

3.  Instigated  in  like  manner  by  the  Thebans,  the  council  sentenced 
the  people  of  Phocis  to  pay  a  heavy  fine  for  having  tilled  certain  lands 
consecrated  to  Apollo,  in  whose  sacred  city  of  Delphi  the  Amphic- 

Philip  to  Aristotle?  15.  What  happened  fourteen  years  after?  16.  How  far  did  Philip's 
eway  now  extend?    What  of  his  influence  over  this  range  of  territory  ? 

17.  What  of  eastern  Thrace?  Byzantium?  How  was  Philip  obliged  to  act  in  regard 
to  Byzantium?     18.  How  were  his  desires  to  possess  this  city  furthered  ? 

CV.  —  1.  What  of  the  origin  of  the  war  which  now  sprung  up?  2.  What  subject  did 
the  Amphictyons  revive?     What  fine  did  they  impose  on  Sparta?    Did  the  Spartans  pay 


PHOCIAN  OR  SACRED   WAR.  285 

tyons  then  held  their  sittings.  The  motives  of  Thebes,  in  arging 
these  measures,  appear  to  have  been  at  once  mercenary,  ambitious, 
and  revengeful. 

4.  In  the  first  place,  from  her  preponderance  in  the  Arnphictyonic 
council,  the  fines,  if  paid,  would  have  been,  without  difficulty,  per- 
verted to  any  purpose  most  conducive  to  her  benefit.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  fines  were  not  paid,  the  religious  prepossessions  of  all 
Greece  would  most  probably  be  shocked  by  the  indifference  of  the 
Spartans  and  Phocians  to  the  sacred  edicts  of  the  Delphic  council, 
and  a  plausible  plea  would  be  established  for  warring,  on  the  latur 
people  at  least,  in  defence  of  the  pretended  rights  of  Apollo. 

5.  Moreover,  contemporary  orators  did  not  scruple  to  assert  that 
Thebes  had  it  in  view  to  recruit  her  finances  from  the  rich  treasures 
of  the  Delphic  deity,  the  only  avenue  to  which  lay  through  the  terri- 
tory of  Phocis. 

6.  These  views,  if  in  reality  entertained  by  the  people  of  Thebes, 
were  only  in  part  fulfilled.  The  exorbitance  of  the  fines  ensured  their 
non-payment  by  the  Spartans  and  Phocians,  and  the  recusants  were 
accordingly  declared  by  the  Arnphictyonic  council  to  be  public 
enemies,  whom  it  behooved  every  state  of  Greece,  as  they  hoped  for 
divine  favor,  to  assist  in  forcing  to  compliance  and  submission. 

7.  But  the  general  ear  of  Greece  was  deaf  to  the  call  of  the  once 
authoritative  council.  The  Thebans  only,  with  the  Locrians,  and 
some  minor  states  who  were  actuated  by  private  motives,  came  for- 
ward to  punish  the  violators  of  the  laws,  and  contemners  of  the 
religion,  of  their  country.  Ere  the  storm  burst,  the  Phocians,  who 
were  destined  to  receive  the  meed  of  punishment  in  the  first  instance, 
had  bestirred  themselves  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  show  that  they  were 
not  a  people  to  be  easily  or  quickly  coerced. 

8.  Having  received  secret  supplies  of  money,  with  assurances  of 
further  support,  from  the  Spartans,  to  whose  sympathy  they  natu- 
rally appealed  in  this  emergency,  the  Phocians  did  not  wait  to  be 
attacked,  but  themselves  struck  the  first  blow,  encouraged  to  it  chiefly 
by  the  counsels  of  Philomelus,  an  ambitious  and  daring  spirit  among 
them,  and  the  head  of  one  of  their  wealthiest  and  most  popular 
families. 

9.  Having  artfully  prepared  the  minds  of  his  countrymen  for  the 
exploit,  Philomelus  led  a  strong  force  with  great  rapidity  to  Delphi, 
and  acquired  possession,  (355  B.  C.,)  with  ease,  of  the  sacred  city, 
to  which  superstition  had  hitherto  proved  an  effectual,  though  almost 
sole,  protection. 

10.  Perhaps  the  Phocians  themselves  would  have  been  staggered 
by  the  seeming  impiety  of  this  action,  had  not  their  leader  instilled 

any  attention  to  this  decree  ?  3.  What  did  the  council  sentence  the  people  of  Phocis  to 
pay  ?     What  were  the  motives  of  the  Thebans  ? 

4.  What  would  have  happened  if  the  fines  were  paid  ?  What  if  they  were  not  paid? 
5.  What  did  contemporary  orators  assert  ?  6.  Were  the  fines  paid?  What  did  the 
council  declare  the  recusants  to  be? 

7.  What  states  came  forward  to  punish  them  ?  What  had  the  Phocians  in  the  mear. 
time  done?  8.  What  had  they  received  from  Sparta  ?  By  whom  were  they  encouraged 
lo  resistance  ?     9.    What  of  Philomelus  and  the  ciiy  of  Delphi  ? 

10.  What  had  Philomelus  told  them  in  regard  to  Delphi?     11.    What  did  he  do  aliei 


286  PERIOD   IV.  —404  B.C.   TO   146  B.C. 

Milo  them  the  belief, -founded  upon  a  passage  in  Homer,  that  they 
were  the  rightful  and  natural  guardians  of  the  Delphic  shrine. 

11.  Immediately  on  completing  his  enterprise,  PfrtltTmelus  took 
care  to  inform  all  Greece  of  the  grounds  on  which  he  had  expelled  the 
Amptrtciyorrs  from  the  city  of  Apollo,  and  had  assumed  possession  of 
it  in  the  name  of  his  country.  No  general  feeling  of  any  kind  seems 
to  have  been  excited  in  Greece  by  the  intelligence  of  this  event. 

12.  The  accession  of  no  new  parties  to  the  contest  resulted  from  it, 
although,  undoubtedly,  the  animosity  between  those  already  engaged, 
or  intending  to  engage,  was  by  no  means  diminished  by  the  seizure 
of  Delphi.  Ultimately,  however,  the  Sacred  War,  as  this  struggle  is 
named  in  history,  involved  in  its  vortex  the  majority  of  the  Grecian 
states,  and  was  mainly  instrumental,  as  has  been  said,  in  overturning 
their  common  independence. 

13.  Thebes  appears  to  have  been  unprepared  for  the  perfect  indif- 
ference with  vvbich  the  rest  of  the  republics  regarded  the  decrees  of 
the  Amphictyons,  and  the  conduct  of  the  Phocians.  Even  her  own 
immediate  dependencies  could  with  difficulty  be  aroused  to  action,  and 
the  Phocians  proceeded  in  their  career,  for  a  time,  almost  unchecked. 

14.  Under  the  energetic  guidance  of  Philomelus,  and  aided  by  a 
strong  body  of  mercenaries,  they  invaded  the  territory  of  the  Locrians, 
and  sorely  harassed  these  allies  of  Thebes.  When  the  people  of  the 
latter  republic,  after  the  lapse  of  a  season,  were  enabled  to  take  the 
field,  fortune  continued  to  favor  their  adversaries.  During  the  two 
campaigns  that  followed  the  capture  of  Delphi,  the  Phocians  were 
successful  in  almost  every  engagement. 

15.  They  met  with  a  severe  mischance,  at.  length,  in  the  loss  of 
their  vigorous  commander,  whose  death  took  place  in  a  manner  so 
remarkable,  that  the  Thebans  did  not  scruple  to  represent  it  as  an 
evidence  of  the  divine  displeasure.  Being  wounded  in  battle,  and 
driven  by  the  ^nemy  to  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  Philomelus  threw 
himself  from  it,  and  was  dashed  to  pieces. 

16.  But  the  fact  that  a  death  of  torture  would  most  probably  have 
been  his  fate  had  he  been  taken  alive,  sufficiently  explains  the  motive 
for  this  deed  ;  for  this  war  was  attended  with  circumstances  of  pecu- 
liar barbarity.  No  quarter  was  given  to  the  Phocians,  because  the 
crime  with  which  they  stood  charged  was  sacrilege,  and,  in  self- 
defence,  they  adopted  the  like  conduct  towards  their  adversaries. 

17.  Onomarchus,  the  brother  of  Philomelus,  succeeded  him  in  the 
command  of  the  Phocian  army.  The  new  leader  was  a  man  of  equal 
ability  with  his  prede  lessor,  and  still  less  scrupulous  in  the  use  of 
means  to  advance  the  interests  entrusted  to  him.  He  employed  the 
Delphic  treasure  unsparingly  in  the  coinage  of  money  for  the  enlist- 
ment of  new  troops,  and  for  assailing  the  fidelity  of  the  Theban  allies. 

18.  For  a  time,  a  fresh  spirit  seemed  to  be  infused  into  the  PI  ocian 

taking  the  city  ?  12.  What  resulted  from  this  event?  What  was  the  Sacred  War  ultl 
malely  the  cause  of  ? 

13.  What  does  Thebes  appear  to  have  been  unprepared  for?  What  of  her  own  depen- 
dencies? 14.  Whai  of  the  Phocians  in  the  territory  of  the  Locrians?  Their  success ? 
15.    What  of  the  de;ith  of  Philomelus?     16.    What  was  probably  the  motive  of  this  act  1 

i7    Who  sucr-eeded  Philomelus  ?     What  of  his  ability  ?     How  did   he  employ  tin 


PHOCIAN  OR  SACRED  WAR 


2S? 


cause,  and  Onomarchus  made  the  best  use  of  his  opportunities.  At 
the  head  of  a  large  and  well  appointed  force,  he  ravaged  Doris  and 
Locris,  and  finally  penetrated  into  Bceotia,  where  he  took  by  storm 
several  of  the  dependent  cities  of  Thebes. 

19.  He  also  detached  his  brother  Phayllus  into  Thessaly  with  a 
body  of  seven  thousand  men,  in  order  to  assist  the  party  which  had 
declared  for  Phocis  in  that  country,  against  the  strong  counter-interest 
of  Macedon. 

20.  Philip  did  not  look  on  idly,  and  behold  a  step  taken  which 
threatened  to  overthrow  his  lately  acquired  influence  over  his  southern 
neighbors.  He  collected  a  strong  force,  and  marched  against  Phayllus 
whom  he  vanquished,  and  drove  from  Thessaly  with  disgrace.  Ono- 
marchus was  compelled  to  evacuate  Bceotia,  and  advance  against  the 
new  foe. 

21.  In  an  engagement  which  followed,  the  Phocian  general,  by  his 
dexterous  tactics,  gained  a  decided  advantage  over  Philip,  and  forced 
him  to  retreat  into  Macedon,  to  recruit  his  strength.  Onomarchus 
then  returned  to  Bceotia,  vvith  a  large  body  of  Thessalian  auxiliaries 
added  to  his  former  forces.  He  had  scarcely  time,  however,  to  medi- 
tate a  fresh  assault  on  the  Theban  power,  when  the  reentrance  of 
Philip  into  Thessaly  called  him  again  to  the  defence  oi  that  country 
and  his  allies  there 


Phoaans  thrown  into  the  sea. 

22.  The  Phocian  and  Macedonian  armies  again  met,  when  a  bloody 
engagement  ensued,  in  which  Onomarchus  and  six  thousand  of  his 
iaen  lost  their  lives  on  the  field.     Three  thousand  of  the  Phocians 


Delphic  treasures  ?  18.  What  of  his  expeditions  and  success  ?  19.  Where  did  he  send 
his  brother,  Phayllus?  20.  What  did  Philip  now  do  ?  What  was  Onomarchus  com 
lulled  to  do?    21.   What  happened  in  an  engagement  which  followed?     What   was 


2SS  PERIOD  IV.  — 404   B.C.   TO   146  B.C. 

were  taken  alive,  and  never  afterwards  returned  to  their  countiy. 
Whether  death  or  slavery  was  their  ultimate  fate,  is  not  clearlv 
known,  though  it  is  stated  by  some  authors  that  they  were  thrown 
into  the  sea  by  order  of  Philip. 


CHAPTER    CVI. 

Thermopylce  closed  against  Philip.  —  Demosthenes,  the  Orator. 

1.  At  this  time  the  King  of  Macedon  might  have  with  ease  com- 
pleted the  ruin  of  Phocis.  But  such  was  not  his  object.  His  desire 
was  to  perpetuate  the  dissensions  of  the  Grecian  states,  not  to  give 
any  one  of  them  increased  power  by  the  destruction  of  another.  He 
therefore,  remained  for  the  time  content  with  having  quelled  the 
attempt  of  the  Phocians  to  wrest  the  country  of  Thessaly  from  his 
own  grasp. 

2.  This  policy  he  was  the  more  bound  to  pursue,  as  he  saw  very 
clearly  that  any  endeavor  on  his  part  to  enter  the  bounds  of  the  states, 
would  immediately  alarm  them  into  the  formation  of  a  general  confed- 
eracy, against  which  he  might  as  yet  be  unable  to  make  head. 
Actuated  by  these  motives,  the  artful  Macedonian  turned  again  to  the 
pursuit  of  those  schemes  of  gradual  and  limited  conquest,  which  he 
felt  to  present  the  surest  path  to  that  unlimited  power  on  which  his 
eyes  were  incessantly  fixed. 

3.  Olynthus  and  Byzantium  began  now  to  perceive  more  clearly 
the  designs  which  Philip  entertained  against  them,  and  to  feel  the 
effects  of  his  renewed  intrigues.  In  order  to  strengthen  their  hands 
against  him,  these  communities  entered  into  a  new  alliance  with 
Athens,  which  state  had  the  penetration  to  see  clearly  the  ultimate 
drift  of  the  Macedonian  king. 

4.  It  is  probable  that  Philip  would  not  have  been  deterred  by  these 
steps  from  coming  speedily  to  extremities,  had  not  a  wound,  received 
in  one  of  his  late  battles,  kept  him  for  some  time  in  a  state  of  inac- 
tivity ;  and  when  he  did  recover  from  this  accident,  his  attention  was 
temporarily  withdrawn  from  Olynthus  and  Byzantium,  by  an  affair  of 
more  pressing  consequence. 

5.  The  Phocian  or  Sacred  War  was  not  yet  ended.  Phayllus,  the 
brother  of  the  late  Phocian  commanders,  had  excited  his  countrymen 
to  a  renewal  of  the  contest,  (352  B.  C.)  ;  and  by  plundering  still  fur- 
ther the  shrine  of  Delphi,  he  raised  sufficient  means  to  collect  an  army 
of  mercenaries,  not  inferior  in  numbers  to  any  other  that  had  taken 
the  field  in  the  same  cause.      Five  thousand  Athenians  and  one  thou- 

Philip  forced  to  do?    What  of  Philip's  reentrance  into  Thessaly  ?    22.   What  was  the 
result  of  the  battle? 

CVI.  —  1.  What  was  the  desire  of  Philip  in  regard  to  the  Grecian  states?  With  what^ 
therefore,  did  he  remain  content  ?  2.  Why  was  he  tfce  more  bound  to  pursue  this  policy  1 
To  what  schemes  did  he  turn  his  attention  ?  3.  What  did  Olynthus  and  Byzantium 
now  begin  to  perceive?  With  what  state  did  they  enter  intd  an  alliance?  4.  What 
probably  prevented  Philip  from  coming  to  extremities?  What  further  withdrew  his 
attention  from  those  cities  ?     5.    What  had  Phaylbi3  done  ?     What  force  had  he  raised  ? 


DEMOSTHENES,  THE  ORATOR.  28lJ 

sand  Lacedaemonians  formed  part  of  this  force,  being  sent  as  auxil- 
iaries b\  the  states  to  which  they  respectively  belonged. 

6.  Philip  no  sooner  heard  of  these  preparations  than  he  resolved  to 
seize  the  opportunity  of  endeavoring-  to  enter  the  bounds  of  Phocis, 
trusting  that  his  assumption  of  the  character  of  conservator  of  the 
shrine  of  Apol'o  against  its  violators,  the  Phoeians,  would  strike  such 
a  pious  awe  into  the  leading  states,  that  they  would  allow  him  to  pass 
the  straits  of  Thermopylae  without  obstruction. 

7.  His  numerous  emissaries  among  the  various  republics  flattered 
him  into  the  firm  belief  that  such  would  be  the  case.  Accordingly, 
at  the  head  of  a  numerous  army,  Philip  eagerly  turned  his  steps  in 
the  direction  of  the  Phocian  territories.  Athens,  on  this  occasion, 
saved  Greece  from  the  grasp  of  the  ambitious  monarch.  On  the  first 
intelligence  of  his  march,  they  took  the  alarm,  instantly  flew  to  their 
ships,  and  ere  the  king  could  reach  the  spot,  had  placed  a  powerful 
guard  on  the  straits  of  Thermopyla?. 

8.  Mortified  to  find  the  avenue  to  lower  Greece  impregnably  closed 
against  him,  as  well  as  to  find  his  designs  so  distinctly  penetrated, 
Philip  had  no  course  left  but  to  withdraw  as  he  had  come,  leaving 
the  conduct  of  the  war  with  the  Phooians  to  those  who  had  been  first 
implicated  in  it  —  namely,  the  Thebans  and  their  allies. 

9.  The  Athenian  people  were  elated  by  the  success  of  this  first 
decisive  movement  against  the  Macedonian  king,  and  immediately 
afterwards  they  met  in  full  assembly  to  deliberate  upon  their  future 
policy.  This  assembly  was  rendered  memorable  by  the  first  appear- 
ance against  Philip  of  the  celebrated  orator,  Demosthenes. 

10.  This  extraordinary  man  was  the  son  of  a  respectable  citizen  of 
Athens,  of  whose  care  he  was  deprived  at  the  early  age  of  seven 
years.  'The  guardians  to  whose  charge  the  youth  was  subsequently 
committed,  proved  unfaithful  to  their  trust,  and  one  of  the  first  acts 
of  Demosthenes,  on  reaching  manhood,  was  to  accuse  them  publicly 
of  defrauding  him  of  a  portion  of  his  property. 

11.  This  was  his  first  essay  in  public  speaking;  and,  though  he 
succeeded  in  recovering  some  part  of  his  embezzled  patrimony,  a  most 
unfavorable  judgment  was  passed  upon  his  oratorical  powers.  Jle 
labored  under  a  weak  habit  of  body,  and  other  personal  disadvantages  ; 
besides  which  his  utterance  was  extremely  defective. 

12.  Oratory,  however,  was  then  the  only  path  by  which  an  ambi  • 
tious  man  might  attain  to  power  in  Athens,  or  a  patriotic  spirit  gain 
the  influence  necessary  to  the  efficient  service  of  his  country.  Both 
these  elements  were  plentifully  mixed  up  in  the  character  of  Demos- 
thenes, and  impelled  him  to  a  course  of  severe  and  unremitting  appli- 
cation, which  ended  in  his  surmounting  completely  all  the  obstacles 
which  nature  had  thrown  in  the  way  of  his  acquisition  of  oratorical 
skill  and  eminence. 

6.  Whit  did  Philip  immediately  resolve  to  do?  In  what  did  he  trust?  7.  What  did 
he  therefore  do?  What  step  did  Athens  take?  8.  What  was  Philip  obliged  to  do? 
9.  How  were  the  Athenians  moved  by  their  success  ?  What  of  their  meeting  in  assem- 
bly ?     Demosthenes? 

10.  Who  was  he  ?  What  of  his  guardians  ?  What  was  one  of  the  first  acts  of  Demos 
thgnss?     11.  Did  he  succeed?     Under  what  disadvantages  did  he  labor  '     .2.  What  was 

19 


290  PERIOD  IV. -404  B.C.  TO   146  BO 

13.  By  introducing  pebbles  into  his  mouth,  he  overcame,  it  is 
recorded,  the  defect  which  impeded  his  utterance  ;  by  suspending  a 
sharp- pointed  sword  above  his  shoulders,  he  cured  himself  of  an 
ungainly  habit  which  he  had  acquired  of  shrugging  them  up  ;  and  by 
declaiming  upon  the  shores  of  a  stormy  sea,  he  inured  himself  to  address 
with  composure  the  most  tumultuous  of  popular  assemblies. 


Demosthenes  declaiming  on  the  sea-shore. 

14.  These  diligent  and  persevering  exertions  were  rewarded  with 
the  most  splendid  success.  At  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  he  is  said  to 
have  made  his  earliest  speech  on  questions  of  state  ;  and  two  years 
afterwards,  when  he  had  attained  a  considerable  share  of  popularity, 
he  presented  himself  at  the  convocation  alluded  to,  and  pronounced 
the  first  of  a  series  of  impassioned  invectives  against  the  Macedonian 
ruler,  which  caused  that  prince  ultimately  to  confess,  that  "  Demos- 
thenes was  of  more  weight  against  him  than  all  the  fleets  and  armies 
of  Athens." 

15.  These  philippics,  as  they  were  termed,  have  been  ever  regarded 
as  models  of  popular  eloquence,  being,  as  a  historian  well  says, 
"  grave  and  austere,  like  the  orator's  temper  ;  masculine  and  sublime, 
bold,  forcible,  and  impetuous;  abounding  with  metaphors,  apostro- 
phes and  interrogations  ;  producing  altogether  such  a  wonderful  effect 
upon  his  hearers,  that  they  thought  him  inspired." 

16.  All  his  mighty  powers  were  directed  by  the  orator,  in  the  first 
philippic,  to  the  task  of  opening  the  eyes  of  the  Athenian  people  to 
the  true  cnaracter  of  the  Macedonian,  and  of  arousing  them  to  an 
energetic  resistance  of  his  designs.     The  impression  made  by  Demos- 

the  only  path  to  power  in  Athens  ?    To  what  course  did  the  ambition  of  Demosthenes 
impel  him  ? 

13.  How  did  he  surmount  the  obstacles  jn  his  way?  14.  How  were  his  exertiom 
tewarded?  When  did  he  make  his  first  state  speech?  What  of  his  first  invective  agains' 
Philip?     15.   What  has  been  said  of  these  philippics'}     16.   W^at  did  Demosthenes  at 


MACEDONIAN  PARTY  IN  ATHENS. 


291 


thenei  was  general  and  lasting  ;  but  there  existed  at  this  time  in 
Athens  a  great  party  which  held  very  opposite  views,  and  advocated 
a  very  different  line  of  conduct. 


Demosthenes  haranguing  the  Athenians. 

17.  The  heads  of  this  party  were  Phocion,  a  warrior  and  states- 
man, and  Isocrates,  an  orator  of  high  reputation,  and  a  man  of  unblem- 
ished integrity.  Isocrates  and  Phocion  bent  their  whole  influence  to 
introduce  amicable  relations  between  Philip  and  the  Athenians,  believ- 
ing this  to  be  the  sole  mode  of  securing  the  peace  and  reviving  the 
glory  of  Greece. 

18.  They  regarded  their  countrymen  as  too  weak  to  contend  with 
the  growing  power  of  Macedon,  and  therefore  held  it  to  be  the  best 
policy  to  make  a  friend  of  Philip.  They  contended,  moreover,  that 
Persia,  which  had  wrested  from  Greece  all  her  Asiatic  colonies,  was 
the  enemy  always  most  to  be  feared. 

19.  They  said,  also,  that  Philip  was  the  only  captain  of  the  time 
capable  of  humbling  the  eastern  barbarians,  and  of  leading  the  armies 
of  the  Grecian  states  to  win  new  laurels  on  the  fields  which  had  wit- 
nessed the  glory  of  their  fathers.  He  only  could  marshal  the  way 
to  the  recovery  of  the  possessions  which  had  been  lost. 

temptin  his  first  philippic  7  Whatof  the  impression  made  by  him  ?  What  party  existed 
at  this  time  in  Athens?  17  Who  were  the  heads  of  this  party  1  What  did  they  bend 
..heir  whole  influence  to   <o?     18.  How  did  they  regard  their  countrymen  ?    What  did 


*2\)2  PERIOD  IV.  -404  B.  C.  TO   146  B.  C. 

20.  In  these  opinions  Isocrates  and  Phocion  were  perfectly  sincere 
and  disinterested,  as  were  also  numbers  of  other  influential  men,  who 
saw  matters  in  the  same  light ;  but  the  well-applied  gold  of  the  Mace- 
donian was  the  chief  persuasive  in  favor  of  this  line  of  policy,  with  the 
majority  of  its  supporters  among  the  populace  of  Athens. 

21.  Nor  were  the  lower  classes  only,  and  the  ignorant  corrupted 
by  the  emissaries  of  Philip.  Many  persons  of  note  and  ability  sold 
themselves  to  the  purposes  of  the  wily  monarch.  Demades,  an  orator 
who  rivalled  Demosthenes  himself,  was  one  of  the  most  able  and 
active  of  these  unprincipled  hirelings. 


CHAPTER   CVII. 

Attack  on  Olynthus  by  Philip.  —  Fall  of  Olynthus. 

1.  The  counsels  of  Demosthenes  were  not  immediately  acted  upon 
The  auxiliary  force  which  he  recommended  the  Athenians  to  send  to 
Olynthus  and  the  other  allied  states  that  stood  in  the  most  pressing 
danger  from  Philip,  was  only  partially  raised,  and  seems  never  to 
have  been  sent. 

2.  In  the  mean  time,  in  order  to  lull  once  more  to  sleep  the  vigilance 
of  the  Athenians,  aroused  by  his  attempt  to  pass  Thermopylae,  the 
King  of  Macedon  remained  in  apparent  inactivity  for  two  years  subse- 
quent to  that  event.  He  was  all  the  while,  however,  secretly  en- 
gaged in  disseminating  his  corrupting  gold  among  the  Athenian 
dependencies  in  Euboea,  and  in  preparing  to  complete  his  long  medi- 
tated designs  on  Olynthus. 

.3.  His  intrigues  gained  over  a  great  number  of  the  Eubceans  to  his 
interest,  and  an  open  rupture  at  length  (349  B.  C.)  took  place  between 
his  partisans  in  the  island,  and  those  who  remained  friendly  to  Athens. 
To  protect  his  party,  Philip  sent  to  the  spot  a  strong  body  of  Mace- 
donians ;  and  the  Athenians,  on  their  part,  despatched  a  force  under 
the  veteran  Phocion,  to  maintain  the  opposite  cause. 

4.  The  consummate  prudence  of  the  Athenian  leader  caused  the 
speedy  and  total  overthrow  of  the  enemy,  in  a  pitched  engagement. 
After  composing  the  affairs  of  Euboea,  Phocion  returned  home,  and 
was  received  by  his  countrymen  with  joy  and  triumph. 

5.  Though  much  disappointed  by  this  result,  Philip  was  not  thereby 
alarmed  into  any  departure  from  his  ambitious  schemes.  On  the  con- 
trary, immediately  after  the  defeat  of  his  Euboean  partisans,  he  took 
the  field  in  person  against  the  Olynthians,  whom  he  now  plainly  told, 
that  either  they  must  leave  Olynthus,  or  he  Macedon. 

they  say  of  Persia  ?  19.  What  ..'id  they  say  of  Philip?  20  Were  they  sincere  in  these 
opinions?  How  were  the  majority  influenced?  21.  What  class  of  persons  were  bribed 
ny  Philip?     What  of  Demades? 

CVII.  -- 1.  Were  the  counsels  of  Demosthenes  acted  upon?  What  of  the  force  recom- 
mended to  \y  sent  to  Olynthus?  2.  In  what  state  did  Philip  now  remain?  What  was 
he,  however   secret'y  engaged  in  doing? 

3  What  effect  did  his  inirigues  have?  What  soon  took  place  ?  What  measures  were 
taken  by  Philip  arid  the  Athenians?  4.  What  was  the  result  of  the  engagement ? 
6.  What  did  Philip  now  do  ?     What  did  he  tell  the  Olynthians  ? 


ATTACK  ON  01  VNTHUS.  293 

f .  As  soon  as  their  powerful  foe  ei  tered  their  territory,  and  vihile 
Ke  was  engaged  in  the  preparatory  ueasure  of  reducing  the  minor 
towns  of  the  district,  the  Olynthians  sent  ambassadors  to  Athens, 
entreating  instant  succor.  Keen  discussions  arose  in  that  city  relative 
to  the  propriety  of  granting  the  demand.  Demades,  and  other  favor- 
ers of  the  Macedonian  interest,  advised  the  total  rejection  of  the  Olyn- 
thian  petition. 

7.  Demosthenes  again,  in  one  of  his  most  energetic  orations,  coun- 
selled his  countrymen  to  save  themselves,  by  defending  their  allies 
from  the  grasp  of  Philip.  Swayed  between  two  opposing  forces,  the 
Athenians  decided  finally  upon  such  half  measures  as  were  worse  than 
absolute  inactivity. 

8.  They  sent  their  favorite  Chares,  a  man  formed  to  captivate  a  mob, 
but  not  to  command  an  army,  with  an  inconsiderable  force  to  the 
relief  of  their  allies.  Chares  did  no  benefit  whatever  to  the  Olynthi- 
ans. He  made  a  descent  upon  the  Thracian  coast  to  fill  his  own 
coffers  and  gratify  the  plundering  spirit  of  his  men,  and  then,  after  a 
very  short  absence,  returned  to  Athens  to  expend  the  proceeds  of  his 
excursion  in  entertaining  the  populace  with  feastings  and  shows. 

9.  Unchecked  in  his  career,  Philip  now  drew  his  forces  around 
Olynthus,  and  besieged  the  people  in  their  city.  Again  the  Olynthians 
despatched  ambassadors  to  Athens,  and  again  Demosthenes  plead  the 
cause  of  the  distressed  republic,  exhorting  the  Athenians  to  interpose 
in  a  manner  worthy  of  themselves,  and  commensurate  with  the  occa- 
sion. 

10.  The  result  of  this  embassy  was  much  the  same  as  that  of  the 
preceding  one.  A  body  of  four  thousand  foreigners,  or  mercenaries 
in  the  pay  of  Athens,  was  sent  under  the  command  of  Charidemus,  a 
second  Chares,  to  assist  the  besieged  city.  This  force,  on  reaching 
Olynthus,  behaved  in  so  unworthy  a  manner  as  to  be  an  annoyance 
and  a  burden,  rather  than  a  benefit,  to  the  inhabitants. 

11.  Philip  carried  on  the  siege  vigorously  ;  but  the  obstinate  defence 
made  by  the  Olynthians  gave  time  for  a  third  embassy  to  Athens.  On 
this  occasion  another  discourse  was  pronounced  in  favor  of  the  peti- 
tioners by  Demosthenes,  and  with  more  success  than  formerly. 

12.  The  jealousy  of  the  Athenian  people  was  at  length  fully  aroused 
by  his  words,  and  they  decreed  an  immediate  arming  of  the  citizens 
for  the  aid  of  Olynthus.  But,  unhappily,  this  resolve  came  too  late. 
Before  it  could  be  put  into  execution,  Philip  was  master  of  Olynthus, 
chiefly  through  the  treachery  of  two  generals  of  the  besieged  commu- 
nity. The  Macedonian  king  demolished  (348  B.  C.)  the  city,  and 
carried  away  the  inhabitants  into  captivity. 

13.  The  infamous  betrayers  of  their  c(  untry  are  said  to  have  met  a 
worse  fate  at  the  hands  of  Philip,  who  was  high-souled  enough  to 
contemn  the  traitors,  though  he  scrupled  not  to  profit  by  the  treason. 

6.  What  did  the  Olynthiana  do?  What  discussions  followed  in  Athens?  7.  What  did 
Demesthenes  advise  ?     What  measures  did  the  Athenians  finally  decide  upon  ? 

8.  Whom  did  they  send  to  the  relief  of  their  allies?  How  did  he  acquit  himself  of 
his  duty?  9.  What  did  Philip  now  do?  What  did  the  Olynthians,  assisted  by  Demos- 
thenes, urge?  10.  What  was  the  result?  What  force  was  despatched?  11.  What 
events  nDw  followed? 

12.  What  decree  did  the  Athenians  pass  ?  Why  was  the  resolve  too  late  ?  The  fate 
25* 


294  PERIOD  IV.  -  404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  U. 

The  spoils  of  the  fallen  city  greatly  enriched  the  Macedonian  treasury , 
and  the  accession  of  territory  was  still  more  valuable.  All  the  dis- 
trict of  Chalcis  was  added  to  Philip's  empire,  and  the  northern  parts 
of  the  iEgean  Sea  were  open  to  his  fleets. 

14.  These  acquisitions  were  celebrated  by  a  splendid  festival, 
which  was  held  at  the  Olynthian  town  of  Dium,  and  which  lasted  nine 
days.  Visitors  came  to  it  even  from  Athens,  and  all  were  charmed 
with  the  affability  of  the  artful  monarch,  and  the  zeal  he  displayed  to 
do  honor  to  learning  and  the  muses. 

15.  At  the  time  when  Philip  retreated  from  Thermopylae,  the 
Phocians  and  Thebans  were  left  to  continue  at  will  their  senseless 
and  barbarous  war  with  each  other.  None  of  the  larger  states  acted 
effectively  in  concert  with  either  of  them.  Athens  and  Sparta,  it  is 
true,  still  held  the  position  of  allies  of  Phocis,  but  they  were  already 
wearied  of  a  struggle  attended  with  no  benefit  to  themselves,  and  the 
succors  consequent  upon  this  ostensible  connection  were  too  weak  to 
bring  things  to  extremity. 

16.  Phayllus,  the  third  leader  of  the  Phocians  in  the  war,  died  of 
consumption  shortly  after  succeeding  to  the  command  ;  and  such  was 
the  reverence  entertained  by  his  countrymen  for  the  memory  of  his 
brothers  and  himself,  that  they  appointed  his  son,  Phaleucus,  though 
out  a  mere  youth  at  the  time,  to  the  conduct  of  the  war  in  his  stead. 

17.  Several  expeditions  followed,  in  which  neither  party  gained  any 
decisive  advantage.  Alternately  they  ravaged  each  other's  frontiers, 
and  alternately  boasted  of  victories  which  the  rest  of  Greece  paid  no 
great  attention  to.  Even  the  invasion  of  the  Peloponnesus  by  the 
Theban  forces  excited  little  notice,  excepting  as  far  as  Arcadia,  the 
country  entered,  was  concerned. 

18.  The  Lacedaemonians,  aided  by  the  Phocian  army,  finally  com- 
pelled the  Thebans  to  withdraw,  and  Phocis  and  Boeotia  again  became 
the  scene  of  petty  and  inconclusive  hostilities.  After  the  fall  of  Olyn 
thus,  however,  a  change  took  place  in  the  posture  of  affairs. 

19.  Philip  of  Macedon,  exulting  in  his  late  success,  resolved  upon 
becoming  master  of  the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  which  usually  received 
the  title  of  the  Gates  of  Greece,  as  one  of  the  next  steps  to  the  genera] 
domination  which  he  meditated.  The  pass  of  Thermopylae  lay  close  by 
the  Phocian  territories,  and  upon  the  best  method  of  making  himself 
master  of  these,  Philip  mused  long  and  deeply. 

20.  Seeing  that  the  alliance  of  Athens  with  Phocis  was  a  great 
bar  in  the  way  of  his  design,  he  set  all  his  agents  to  work  upon  the 
task  of  detaching  Athens  from  that  connection.  In  order  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  Athenians  to  their  own  affairs,  and  make  them 
feel  the  calls  of  the  Sacred  War  more  troublesome,  he  sent  a  squad- 
ron to  invade  and  ravage  the  Athenian  dependencies  of  Lemnos  and 
Imbros. 

of  Olynthus  ?  13.  What  was  the  fate  of  the  betrayers  of  their  country  ?  What  of  the 
spoils?    The  accession  of  territory  ?    The  district  of  Chalcis? 

14.  How  were  these  acquisitions  celebrated  ?  15.  What  of  the  Phocians  and  Thebans  ? 
Athens  and  Sparta  ?  16.  What  of  the  death  of  Phayllus?  17.  What  of  the  expeditions 
which  followed?  What  were  the  Thebans  finally  compelled  to  do?  19.  What  next 
•tep  did  Philip  resolve  upon?  What  was  the  situation  of  the  pass  of  Thermopylae? 
TO.  Upon  what  task  did  he  set  his  agents  to  work?    What  squadron  did  he  fit  on ? 


ATHENIAN  EMBASSY  TO  PELLA  295 

21  This  expedition  was  completely  successful.  Not  tuly  did  the 
Macedonian  armament  surprise  the  islands  of  Lemnos  and  Iinbros. 
nut  a  descent  was  even  made  on  the  coast  of  Attica  itself,  where 
several  hastily-raised  detachments  of  Athenian  horse  were  vanquished 
and  put  to  flight. 

22.  Another  force  was  despatched  by  Philip  to  Eubcea,  in  order  to 
expel  the  Athenians  from  that  island.  In  this  object,  also,  he  was 
successful,  principally  through  the  assistance  of  the  strong-  party  which 
his  renewed  intrigues  had  gained  over  among  the  inhabitants.  In 
order  to  color  over  this  proceeding  in  some  measure  to  the  Athenians, 
lie  left  the  island  for  the  time  in  the  possession  of  a  nominal  indepen- 
dence. 

23.  The  unhappy  fate  of  the  Olynthians,  however,  conjoined  with 
these  later  injuries,  could  not  but  arouse  the  anger  and  jealousy  of  the 
Athenian  people.  Their  first  impulse  was  to  fly  to  arms,  and  take 
revenge  on  the  Macedonians.  But  ere  their  resolve  could  be  carried 
into  execution,  the  arts  of  Philip  had  changed  the  tone  of  the  fickle 
populace  of  Athens. 

24.  He  represented  all  that  he  had  done  as  forced  upon  him  by  the 
necessity  of  protecting  his  friends  and  allies,  and  professed  the  most 
ardent  desire  to  be  at  peace  with  the  republic.  Moreover,  when 
certain  influential  Athenians  appeared  before  him  to  complain  of  inju- 
ries received  from  Macedonian  soldiers,  he  redressed  their  grievances, 
loaded  them  with  kindness  and  presents,  and  sent  them  home  full  of 
admiration  for  his  affability  and  generosity. 

25.  These  persons  presented  themselves  at  a  critical  time  to  the 
assembly  of  their  countrymen,  and  gave  such  an  account  of  the  friendly 
disposition  of  Philip  towards  Athens,  that  the  people,  as  has  been 
said,  changed  their  mood,  suspended  their  warlike  preparations,  and 
resolved  upon  sending  an  embassy  to  the  court  of  Pella,  to  enter  on 
proposals  of  peace  with  the  Macedonian  king. 


CHAPTER    CVIII. 

Athenian  Embassy  to  Pella.  —  Macedon  made  an  Amphictyonic 

State. 

1.  Demosthenes,  as  well  as  iEschines,  the  greatest  of  his  orator- 
ical rivals,  were  in  the  number  of  the  ten  ambassadors  who  went, 
(348  B.  C.,)  on  this  occasion,  to  the  court  of  Pella.  Demosthenes  had 
long  penetrated,  as  his  discourses  proved,  the  true  intentions  of  Philip  ; 

21.  Was  the  expedition  successful?  What  dkl  the  Macedonian  armament  do? 
22.  What  other  force  was  despatched  hy  Philip?  How  did  he  color  over  this  proceed- 
ing to  the  Athenians  ? 

23.  What  effect  had  the  fate  of  the  Olynthians  upon  the  Athenians  ?  What  was  their 
first  impulse?  How  was  it  overcome  hy  Philip?  24.  What  did  he  say  of  what  he  had 
done  ?  How  did  he  treat  the  embassy  from  Athens  ?  25.  What  was  resolved  on  their 
return  to  Athens? 

'JVTil.  —  I.  Who  were  among  the  ambassadors  to  Pella  ?    What  hac  Demosthenes  long 


296  PERIOD  IV. -404  B.  C.  TO   146  B.  C. 

and  after  all  he  had  said  regarding  that  prince,  this  mission  could  not 
be  pleasant  to  the  orator,  but  he  was  forced  into  it  by  the  general 
demand  of  the  people. 

2.  Partly  from  the  embarrassment  of  meeting  a  man  whom  he  had 
so  vehemently  arraigned,  and  partly,  it  is  probable,  from  that  want  of 
personal  courage  which  undeniably  characterized  him,  Demosthenes 
conducted  himself,  as  all  historians  admit,  most  unworthily  throughout 
this  embassy. 

3.  When  the  envoys  were  introduced  to  the  presence  of  Philip, 
Demosthenes  was  unable  to  speak  his  sentiments  face  to  face  with  the 
man  whom  he  had  so  often  in  absence  denounced.  The  majority  of 
the  remaining  envoys  were  rather  friendly  than  otherwise  to  Philip, 
who,  accordingly,  found  it  by  no  means  difficult  to  cajole  them  by  fair 
and  flattering  words. 

4.  The  issue  of  the  mission  was,  that  the  ambassadors  returned  to 
Athens,  bearing  with  them  the  mere  announcement  of  Philip's  wil- 
lingness to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  the  republic.  No  sooner  had 
they  left  Pella,  than  the  Macedonian  prince  immediately  showed  what 
value  was  to  be  put  upon  his  professions. 

5.  With  that  celerity  which  characterized  all  his  military  move- 
ments, he  darted  upon  Thrace,  took  captive  its  king,  Kersobleptus, 
and  made  himself  master  of  the  whole  country,  including  the  cities  of 
Serrium,  Doriscus,  and  others  on  that  coast  tributary  to  Athens. 
By  this  expedition,  he  also  became  possessor  of  the  important  pass  of 
the  Hellespont,  one  of  the  great  safeguards  of  Greece  against  north- 
ern or  Asiatic  incursions. 

6.  The  Athenians  sent  a  messenger  to  Philip  to  complain  of  these 
acts,  but  his  answer  was  cold  and  haughty.  So  powerful  was  his 
present  attitude,  that  the  Athenians  saw  the  necessity,  for  their  own 
safety,  of  immediately  concluding  a  treaty  of  peace  with  him,  in  spite 
of  his  injuries.  The  ten  ambassadors,  consequently,  again  went  to 
Pella,  and  a  peace  was  ratified. 

7.  Being  determined,  however,  to  possess  himself  of  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae,  Philip  contrived  to  keep  out  of  this  treaty  all  mention  of 
the  Phocians,  upon  the  plea,  that,  as  he  had  promised  to  assist  the 
Thebans  in  their  quarrel  with  Phocis,  it  would  not  be  decorous  for 
nim  openly  to  assume  a  friendly  attitude  towards  the  latter  state. 
But  he  assured  the  ambassadors,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  hated  the 
Thebans,  and  would  rather  punish  them  than  Phocis. 

8.  The  ambassadors  of  Athens,  all  but  Demosthenes,  had  taken 
Macedonian  gold,  and  they  departed  with  every  appearance  of  placing 
credit  in  the  king's  words.  Scarcely  were  they  gone,  when  Philip  a 
second  time  showed  what  degree  of  confidence  was  due  to  his  a*"»3r- 
tions.  He  marched  towards  Thermopylae,  passed  the  straits  without 
obstruction,  and  speedily  entered  the  territory  of  Phocis. 

eeen  in  regard  to  Philip?  2.  How  did  Philip  conduct  himself  on  this  embassy  ?  Wha 
were  the  reasons  of  this?  3.  What  of  vhe  remaining  envoys  ?  4.  What  was  the  issue 
of  tiie  mission  ? 

5.  What  steps  did  he  immediately  take  ?  What  important  pass  did  he  gain  possessior 
of?  6.  What  did  the  Athenians  now  do?  7.  How  did  Philip  advance  his  intentions  o*. 
obtaining  the  pass  of  Thermopylae?    What  did  he,  however,  assure  the  ambassadors? 

8    What  had  the  ambassadors  received  from  Philip  ?    What  did  he  do  the  momeo'.  they 


CESSATION  OF  WAR  IN  GREECE.  237 

9.  The  unhappy  Phocians,  deceived  by  the  accounts  brought  from 
Athens  immediately  after  the  return  of  the  ambassadors,  imagined  the 
Macedonian  monarch  to  be  their  friend,  and  received  him  with  open 
arms.  Philip  concealed  his  intentions  for  a  time,  until  he  had  called 
together  the  Amphictyonic  council  at  Delphi. 

10.  When  that  council  met,  the  deputies  only  of  Thebes,  Locris, 
and  Thessaly,  were  present,  all  of  them  parties  deeply  inimical  to 
Phocis  The  fate  of  the  republic  was  sealed.  Under  the  directing 
influence  of  the  Macedonian  king,  this  council  decreed  (347  B.  C.) 
that  the  cities  of  Phocis  should  be  dismantled  and  reduced  to  villages 
of  sixty  houses  each  —  a  step  equivalent,  almost,  to  depopulation; 
that  the  arms  and  horses  of  the  people  should  be  sold ;  that  they 
should  pay  a  heavy  annual  fine ;  and  that  they  should  be  excluded 
from  the  confederacy  of  Greece,  and  the  Amphictyonic  council. 

11.  Various  other  crushing  decrees  passed  against  this  wretched 
people.  Philip  was  appointed  to  the  presidency  of  the  Pythian  games, 
and  he  also  obtained  for  Macedon  the  place  lost  by  the  Phocians  in  the 
council  of  the  Amphictyons. 

12.  The  intelligence  of  these  cruel  edicts,  which  were  executed  by 
the  Macedonians  to  the  very  letter,  was  received  at  Athens  with  horror 
and  dismay.  The  people  now  exclaimed  loudly  against  themselves 
for  the  insane  remissness  by  which  Philip  had  been  allowed  to  attain 
to  so  dangerous  a  pitch  of  power  and  influence.  But  they  felt  it  to  be 
utterly  vain  for  them  at  present  to  assume  an  attitude  of  offence ;  and, 
therefore,  when  the  decree  of  the  Amphictyons,  incorporating  Macedon 
with  the  Hellenic  body,  came  to  them  for  their  assent,  they  presented 
no  objection,  though  they  do  not  appear  to  have  admitted  Philip's 
claim  to  be  an  Amphictyon. 

13.  Demosthenes  himself  approved  of  pacific  measures  undei  exist- 
ing circumstances  ;  and  the  virtuous  Tsocrates,  following  out  his  former 
views,  addressed  a  discourse  at  this  time  to  Philip,  exhorting  him  to  a 
firm  union  with  the  states  of  Greece,  and  to  the  direction  of  his  and 
their  combined  strength  against  Asia. 

14.  While  making  concessions  so  far,  the  Athenians,  to  their  honor, 
did  not  scruple  to  open  their  arms  to  the  expatriated  Phocians,  and  to 
give  them  settlements  in  Attica  and  other  possessions  of  the  republic 


CHAPTER   CIX. 

Cessation  of  War  in  Greece. 

1.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Phocian  or  Sacred  War,  peace  reigned 
ir  Greece  for  a  short  period.     But  nearly  all  the  states  were  either 

were  gone?  9.  How  was  he  received  by  the  Ph  >ciaiis  I  Until  what  time  did  he  con- 
ceal his  intentions?  10.  What  states  sent  deputies  to  the  council  at  Delphi?  What 
did  the  council  decree? 

11.  To  what  office  was  Philip  appointed?  12.  How  was  the  intelKgence  of  these 
edicts  received  at  Athens?  What  did  they  lament  on  their  part?  How  did  they  treat 
the  decree  of  the  Amphictyons?  13.  Of  what  measures  did  Demosthenes  approve? 
What  discourse  did  Isocrates  address  to  Philip?  14.  How  were  the  Phocians  received 
by  the  Athenians  ? 


f«?98 


PERIOD  IV.  -404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 


occupied  with  their  own  private  quarrels,  or  were  uneasy  and  vexea 
at  the  conditions  upon  which  peace  was  obtained,  which  therefore  was 
in  several  respects  a  hollow  and  deceitful  one. 

2.  While  it  lasted,  however,  Philip  was  not  idle.  After  returning 
from  Delphi,  with  eleven  thousand  rhocian  captives  in  his  train,  he 
visited  Thrace,  and,  to  secure  his  conquests  in  that  country,  founded 
two  cities,  which  he  named  Philippopolis  and  Cabyla.  In  these  he 
placed  the  majority  of  his  captives. 

3.  Some  time  subsequently,  (344  B.  C.,)  he  undertook  an  expedi- 
tion to  Illyria,  to  strengthen  his  power  in  that  quarter.  During  his 
absence  there,  ambassadors  came  to  Pella  from  Ochus,  the  Persian 
king,  with  offers  of  friendship  to  the  Macedonian  monarch.  Philip's 
son  Alexander,  then  a  boy  of  twelve  years,  entertained  the  envoys  in 


Alexander  entertaining  the  Persian  Ambassadors. 

I  s  father's  name,  and  astonished  them  with  the  precocious  intelli- 
gence, and  dignity  of  demeanor,  which  he  displayed.  The  embassy 
was  attended  with  no  result  of  importance. 

4.  Philip,  on  his  return  from  Illyria,  received  a  most  welcome  mes- 
sage from  the  Thebans,  entreating  him  not  to  permit  their  allies  of 
Arcadia  and  Messene  to  be  trampled  upon  by  the  domineering  Spar- 
tans. The  king  at  once  saw  how  easily  his  influence  might  now  be 
confirmed  in  the  Peloponnesus,  and  he  forthwith  procured  a  decree 
from  the  Amphictyons,  empowering  him  to  protect  the  aggrieved  par- 
ties against  Lacedaemon. 

5,  Having  obtained  this  decree,  and  in  spite  of  the  most  powerful 
eloquence  of  Demosthenes,  who  now  put  forth  his  utmost  strength 


CIX.  —  1.  What  of  the  peace  which  followed?  2. 
3.  What  happened  during  his  absence  in  Illyria? 
»mlwssy  ? 

4     What  message  Jil  Phfip  receive  from  the  Thebans?    What  did  he  at  once  see? 


What  did  Philipdo  while  it  lasted? 
How  did  Alexander  entertain  the 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  FIIILIP.  299 

tgaiast  him  he  sailed  unobserved  to  the  coast  of  Laconia,  where  he 
lauded,  ard  ravaged  the  Spartan  territories. 

6.  That  people  were  forced  to  submit  to  him,  and  Philip,  in  the 
capacity  apparently  of  mediator,  but  actually  of  dictator,  settled  the 
boundaries  of  the  Peloponnesian  republics,  and  composed  their  differ- 
ences. He  then  marched  in  triumph  to  the  city  of  Corinth,  being 
received  everywhere  on  his  route  with  the  highest  honors.  After 
witnessing  certain  festivals  at  Corinth,  he  returned  to  Macedon. 

7.  Philip  seems  to  have  now  imbibed  a  degree  of  contempt  for  the 
wordy  and  vacillating  Athenians,  whom  he  had  once  taken  so  much 
pains  to  cajole  —  at  least,  his  next  proceedings  may  rationally  be 
ascribed  to  such  a  feeling.  He  seized  upon  Halonnesus,  an  island  on 
the  Thessalian  coast  belonging  to  Athens,  and  openly  took  measures 
most  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the  Athenian  settlements  in  the 
Thracian  Chersonese,  by  supporting  and  encouraging  their  enemies 
in  the  same  quarter. 

8.  These  proceedings,  and  others  of  a  like  nature,  roused  the 
injured  republic  at  last  to  something  like  energetic  action.  A  strong 
force  was  sent  under  a  man  of  courage  and  skill,  named  Diopithes,  an 
attached  friend  of  Demosthenes,  to  protect  the  settlements  in  the 
Chersonese.  Diopithes  made  an  incursion  into  Philip's  Thracian 
dominions,  carrying  off  a  large  amount  of  booty  and  prisoners,  without 
any  resistance  being  offered  on  Philip's  part,  who  was  engaged  in 
upper  Thrace. 

9.  Philip,  however,  made  loud  complaints  at  Athens  through  his 
emissaries,  who  prevailed  on  the  people  to  put  the  accused  general 
on  his  trial.  Demosthenes  successfully  defended  his  friend,  in  an 
oration  equal  in  vigor  to  any  ever  delivered  by  him.  The  consequence 
was,  that  the  Athenians  were  roused  to  still  greater  exertions. 

10.  A  fleet  was  fitted  out,  which  plundered  the  Thessalian  coasts, 
and  seized  many  Macedonian  ships.  Another  force  went  to  Eubcea, 
and  drove  the  Macedonians  from  that  island.  Still  Philip,  who  had 
sat  down  before  Perinthus,  contented  himself  with  remonstrances, 
until,  finding  the  Perinthians  obstinate  in  their  resistance,  he  moved 
against  Diopithes,  and  vanquished  him. 

11.  His  fleet  also  took  some  Athenian  vessels  laden  with  corn  for 
the  relief  of  Perinthus,  and  this  circumstance  enabled  the  king  to  play 
off  one  of  his  masterly  strokes  of  policy.  He  sent  the  vessels  back 
to  Athens,  with  letters  assuring  the  republic  that  he  knew  well  their 
friendly  sentiments  towards  him,  though  some  mischievous  leaders 
were  his  enemies. 

12.  The  letter  would  probably  have  had  the  desired  effect,  but  for 
Demosthenes,  who  exposed  the  trick,  and  persuaded  his  countrymen 
to  continue  their  protection  to  those  cities  which  Philip  was  struggling 

What  decree  did  he  procure  from  the  Amphictyons  ?  5.  What  did  he  then  do  ?  6.  What 
of  his  settling  the  Peloponnesian  differences?    Where  did  he  then  go? 

7.  What  opinion  had  he  now  formed  of  the  Athenians?  What  were  h.j  .iext  procetd- 
IH«s1  8.  Wrh;it  effect  had  these  actions  upon  the  Athenians?  What  of  the  force  fined 
out?  Its  success?  9.  What  complaints  were  made  by  Philip?  What  was  the  final 
result  ?     10.  What  of  the  Athenian  fleet  and  land  force?     What  did  Philip  then  do  ? 

11.  What  stroke  of  policy  did  he  then  piny  oft?  1*2.  Who  exposed  the  trick  ?  What  did 
ne  persu^ie  the  Athenians  to  do?     What  was  Phocion's  success?     His  preparations  for 


300  PERIOD  IV.— 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

to  reduce.  Phocian  was  despatched  with  a  new  body  of  auxiliaries  toi 
this  purpose,  who  found  the  king  besieging  Byzantium,  and  compelled 
him  to  desist  from  the  enterprise.  Phocion  then  made  the  ir^st  judi- 
cious preparations  for  the  future  defence  of  the  allies  and  tributaries 
of  Athens  in  eastern  Thrace,  and  returned  home,  (340  B.  C.,)  where 
he  was  greeted  with  the  most,  enthusiastic  reception. 

13.  Philip,  perhaps,  would  not  have  so  readily  submitted  to  the 
dishonor  of  being  foiled  in  his  purpose  on  the  Byzantine  cities,  had  nol 
a  new  call  upon  his  attention  been  made  at  the  time,  which  afforded 
him  a  plea  for  retreating  with  credit  from  the  attempt  he  was  engaged 
in. 

14.  Some  time  previously,  Atheas,  king  of  a  Scythian  tribe  dwell- 
ing between  the  western  shores  of  the  Euxine  and  the  Danube,  be- 
sought Philip's  aid  against  some  unruly  neighbors,  promising,  as  a 
reward,  that  the  King  of  Macedon  should  be  declared  heir  to  the 
Scythian  throne. 

15.  Philip's  ambition  was  tempted  by  the  proffer,  and  he  sent  a 
strong  force  to  the  assistance  of  Atheas.  That  prince,  however,  had 
overcome  his  foes  before  the  Macedonian  troops  arrived,  and,  when 
these  did  come,  he  received  them  with  the  most  ungrateful  coldness, 
refusing  them  their  pay,  or  any  remuneration  for  their  march  to  his 
aid. 

16  When  his  soldiery  returned  to  him  with  this  irritating  intelli- 
gence, Philip  was  engaged  with  the  attack  on  Byzantium ;  but  he 
determined,  probably  for  mingled  reasons,  to  give  up  this  attempt,  and 
depart  to  inflict  punishment  on  Atheas. 

17.  When  he  did  so,  his  skilful  and  practised  warriors  easily  beat 
the  Scythian  barbarians  ;  and,  after  a  gratifying  campaign,  he  returned 
loaded  with  spoils,  chiefly  horses  and  herds,  and  followed  by  twenty 
thousand  captives.  Alexander  attended  his  father  on  this  expedition, 
and  saved  his  life  in  battle,  though  not  until  Philip  had  received  a 
wound  which  rendered  him  lame  for  the  rest  of  his  days. 

18.  During  Philip's  absence,  disturbances  had  again  arisen  between 
the  Grecian  states.  The  citizens  of  Amphissa,  a  town  about  eight 
miles  from  Delphi,  had  cultivated  a  plain  which  had  been  some  time 
before  devoted  by  the  Amphictyons  to  eternal  sterility  in  honor  of 
Apollo.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Amphictyons,  the  Amphisseans 
were  denounced  by  the  deputies  from  Athens  as  guilty  of  sacrilege, 
and  their  lands  and  their  houses  were  laid  waste  and  burnt. 

.  19.  The  Amphisseans  were  enraged  at  the  razing  of  their  houses 
and  the  destruction  of  their  fields,  and  assaulted  the  Amphictyons  on 
their  return  from  the  spot.  A  force  was  subsequently  raised  by  the 
council  to  revenge  this  outrage.  The  Amphisseans  also  flew  to  arms, 
and  defended  themselves  successfully  against  their  assailants,  until  the 
council  resolved  to  call  in  Philip  of  Macedon  to  their  defence,  in  the 

•he  future?  13.  What  new  call  was  now  made  upon  Philip's  attention  ?  14.  Who  wa« 
Atheas?  What  offer  did  he  make  to  Philip?  15.  How  lid  the  affair  result?  16.  What 
determination  did  Philip  form  /     17.    What  of  the  campaign?     What  of  Alexander? 

18.  What  of  the  trouble  between  the  Amphisseans  and  Amphictyons  ?  19.  How  did 
*.he  Amphisseans  revenge  themselves  ?  What  did  the  council  finally  resolve  to  d \>  ?  What 
was  thus  begun  ? 


CAPTURE  OF  ELATEA.  30* 

character  of  General  of  the  Amphictyonic  Council.     And  thus  was  a 
new  Sacred  War  begun. 


CHAPTER  CX. 

Capture  of  Elatea.  —  Battle  of  Cheer  onea, 

1.  Philip  had  just  returned  from  his  Scythian  campaign,  when  the 
deputation  from  the  council  met  him.  He  at  once  accepted  the  charge 
assigned  to  him,  and  speedily  was  on  his  route  by  sea  to  the  Locrian 
coast.  By  the  stratagem  of  throwing  fictitious  letters  in  their  way, 
he  eluded  certain  Athenian  vessels  stationed  in  that  region,  and  landed 
in  safety. 

2.  He  then  marched  upon  Amphissa,  receiving  in  his  course  a  body 
of  auxiliaries  from  Thebes.  On  hearing  of  Philip's  disembarkment 
and  march,  the  people  of  Athens  were  so  seriously  alarmed,  that  they 
sent  ten  thousand  mercenaries  to  the  defence  of  Amphissa.  This  force 
was  attacked  and  routed  by  the  Macedonian  leader,  who,  immediately 
afterwards,  stormed  and  took,  without  difficulty,  the  unfortunate  city 
which  had  been  the  cause  of  this  renewal  of  hostilities. 

3.  Having  garrisoned  Amphissa,  Philip  then  followed  up  his  sue 
cess  by  a  fresh  measure,  equally  daring-  and  judicious.  Feeling  him- 
self not  perfectly  secure  of  the  continued  friendship  of  the  Thebans. 
whose  territories  were  of  great  importance  as  lying  in  his  way  to 
those  of  the  Athenians,  the  king  fixed  his  eyes  upon  the  city  of  Ela- 
tea, a  strong  post  upon  the  frontier  between  Phocis  and  Bceotia,  and 
distant  only  two  days'  march  from  Attica. 

4.  The  possession  of  this  place,  he  saw,  would  enable  him  effectu- 
ally to  keep  the  Thebans  on  terms  of  amity  tli rough  fear,  and  would 
afford  him  a  position,  moreover,  from  which  he  could,  at  any  favorable 
moment,  dart  upon  the  towns  and  cities  of  Attica.  Philip,  accord- 
ingly, drew  his  forces  to  Elatea,  and,  with  his  wonted  good  fortune, 
made  himself  speedily  master  (338  B.  C.)  of  the  city. 

5.  K  was  situated  on  a  rocky  eminence,  at  the  base  of  which  flowed 
the  river  Cephissus,  laying  open  a  navigable  route  from  the  spot  into 
Attica.  The  Macedonian  king  added  greatly  to  the  natural  strength 
of  the  place,  by  building  new  walls  and  other  fortifications.  This 
done,  he  remained  in  his  stronghold  for  a  time,  preparing  himself  for 
a  powerful  effort  to  obtain  the  final  mastery  of  Greece. 

6.  No  event  that  had  yet  signalized  the  career  of  Philip,  gave  so 
severe  a  shock  to  the  Athenian  people  as  the  capture  of  Elatea. 
When  the  news  of  that  occurrence  reached  their  city,  an  immense 
commotion  was  excited  ;  an  assembly  was  called,  and  again  the  thun- 

CX.  —  1.  Did  Phi.g  accept  this  charge?  How  did  he  elude  the  Athenian  vessels? 
2  Where  did  he  then,  narch?  What  force  was  sent  by  Athens?  What  was  the  result  ?- 
3.  What  new  measure  fc'lowed  ?  What  of  the  city  of  Elatea?  4.  What  would  the  }kis- 
session  of  this  city  enable  Philip  to  do?  What  did  he  accordingly  do?  5.  What  wa» 
♦.he  situation  of  the  city  ?    What  did  the  Macedonian  king  now  do? 

6.    VVhU  was  the  effect  of  the  capture  of  Elatea  upon  the  Athenians?    Demosthenes  I 


302  PERIOD  IV.  — 401  B.  C.  TO  146  P    C. 

ders  of  Demosthenes  were  launched  against  the  enemy  of  the  liberties 
of  Greece. 

7.  The  orator's  words  fell  not  unheeded  on  this  occasion.  Degen- 
erate as  the  Athenians  were —  and  at  no  period  of  their  history,  it  is 
said,  was  licentiousness  more  prevalent  among  them  than  at  this 
period  — they  showed  themselves  still  capable  of  being  roused  to  higb 
and  lofty  exertions  in  the  cause  of  their  country's  freedom. 

8.  In  accordance  with  the  counsels  of  Demosthenes,  they  raised  a 
large  force  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  Philip  in  the  field,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  they  sent  ambassadors  to  Thebes  and  other  republics,  call- 
ing upon  them  to  arm  and  join  in  the  defence  of  their  common  inde- 
pendence. 

9.  Demosthenes  himself  went  on  the  mission  to  Thebes,  and  his 
vehement  eloquence  had  the  effect  of  rousing  that  republic  to  a  sense 
of  its  duty,  estranged,  as  it  had  long  been,  from  the  cause  of  Grecian 
liberty.  The  Thebans  openly  renounced  the  Macedonian  connection, 
and  prepared  for  taking  the  field  with  Athens. 

10.  Ere  long,  a  powerful  allied  army,  consisting  of  Athenians 
Thebans,  Corinthians,  Achaians,  Eubceans,  and  other  confederates, 
and  amounting  in  all  to  about  thirty  thousand  men,  marched  out  into 
the  plains  of  Bceotia  to  drive  the  general  foe  from  the  bounds  of  repub- 
lican Greece. 

11.  Philip,  on  his  part,  was  perfectly  ready  for  the  coming  strug- 
gle. 'With  an  army  thirty-two  thousand  strong,  he  proceeded  to  the 
plain  of  Chaeronea,  which  appeared  to  him  the  most  favorable  spot,  for 
the  encounter  with  his  adversaries.  To  the  plain  of  Chaeronea  the 
confederates  also  bent  their  course,  and  here,  on  ground  selected  by 
Philip,  and  most  advantageous  for  his  cause,  the  battle  took  place. 

12.  Alexander,  his  son,  was  placed  by  the  King  of  Macedon  in 
command  of  that  portion  of  the  army  which  was  opposed  to  the  The- 
bans, while  he  himself  took  up  his  station  in  the  quarter  fronting  the 
Athenians.  Different  fortunes  befell  these  two  divisions  of  the  Mace- 
donian force  in  the  early  part  of  the  contest. 

13.  Alexander,  although  yet  scarcely  nineteen  years  of  age,  con- 
ducted his  operations  with  so  much  prudence  and  valor,  that  the  Thebans 
were  entirely  worsted  and  fell  in  vast  numbers.  The  Sacred  Band,  in 
particular,  wis  utterly  cut  to  pieces.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Athe- 
nians, by  tho  impetuosity  of  their  first  attack,  gained  a  decided  advan- 
tage over  the  division  of  Philip,  and  drove  all  before  them  for  a  time. 

14.  But  the  incapacity  of  Lysicles  and  Chares,  who  commanded  the 
Athenians,  enabled  Philip  to  retrieve  the  fortunes  of  the  day.  While 
his  adversaries  were  pursuing  their  success  in  wild  disorder,  urged  en 
by  Lysicles,  who  cried,  arrogantly,  "  Let  us  drive  the  cowards  to 
Macedon,"  Philip  made  a  rapid  wheel  with  his  famous  phalanx  on  the 
top  of  an  eminence,  and  poured  down  with  steady  and  resistless  force 
on  the  Athenians,  who  were  overpowered  by  the  shock,  and  never 

7.  How  were  his  words  regarded  ?  8.  What  did  they  do  In  accordance  with  his  counsel' 
9.  What  did  Demosthenes  himself  do?     What  was  the  effect  of  his  eloquence? 

10.  What  of  the  allied  army  J  II.  What  of  Philip's  army  ?  What  place  was  selected 
for  the  battle?  12.  Where  was  Alexander  placed  ?  Where  did  Philip  station  himself? 
13.  What  of  Alexander  and  the  Thebans?     The  success  of  the  Athenians  ? 

14    How  did  Philip  turn  the  scale  in  his  own  favor?    The  fate  of  the  Athenians! 


BATTLE  OF   CILERUNEa.  30'i 

recovered  their  ranks.  Most  of  them,  and  Lysicles  among  the  num- 
ber, saved  themselves  by  flight,  thereby  presenting  a  dishonorable 
?ontrast  to  the  conduct  of  the  ill-fated  bands  of  Thebes. 


Battle  of  Chceronea 

15.  When  Philip  saw  that  his  victory  was  complete,  he  gaze 
orders  for  the  discontinuance  of  the  slaughter.  The  survivors  among 
the  vanquished  acknowledged  their  defeat,  according  to  form,  by 
asking  leave  to  bury  their  dead.  Ere  this  could  be  done,  Philip  had 
manifested  the  mixture  of  barbarism  which  was  in  his  nature,  by 
appearing  on  the  field,  after  a  banquet  given  in  honor  of  the  day's 
success,  and  insulting,  with  bacchanalian  triumph,  the  memory  of  the 
slain. 

16.  The  sight  of  the  Theban  corses  tamed  him  for  a  moment  into 
pity;  but  the  feeling  was  not  permanent.  To  the  people  of  Thebes, 
indeed,  he  showed  the  most  extreme  severity  in  his  use  of  the  advan- 
tages gained  on  the  field  of  Chseronea.  He  punished  rigorously  the 
party  opposed  to  him  in  that  republic,  put  his  creatures  into  all  its 
offices,  and  garrisoned  the  city  with  Macedonian  soldiers. 

17.  His  conduct  to  the  Athenians  was  very  different,  for  he  had 
here  a  more  refined,  as  well  as  more  powerful,  people  to  deal  with. 
Instead  of  taking  any  advantage  of  his  victory  to  injure  the  city  or  its 
inhabitants,  he  offered  peace  on  certain  conditions,  one  of  which  was 
the  surrender  of  the  isle  of  Samos,  the  bulwark  of  the  maritime  power 
of  Athens. 

1.8.    The  people  were  to  retain  their  ancient  form  of  government, 

15  What  order  did  Philip  now  give?    How  did  the  survivors  acknowledge  their  defeat? 
Philip'3  behavior  after  the  battle?      16.  How  did  he  treat  the  Thebans  ?     17.  The  A  the- 
9     aians?    On  what  conditions  did  he  offer  peace'    18.  What  of  the  terms  offered? 


o04  PERIOD  IV.— 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

and  the  possession  of  Attica  undisturbed.  Upon  the  whole,  the  terms 
offered  to  them  were  much  more  favorable  than  could  have  been  an- 
ticipated, and  a  peace  was  concluded. 


CHAPTER    CXI. 

Fall  of  Grecian  Independence.  —  Assassination  of  Philip.  — 
His  Character. 

1.  The  battle  of  Chaeronea  gave  the  finishing  blow  to  the  republi- 
can glories  of  Greece.  The  history  of  the  decline  and  fall  of  these 
extraordinary  states  is  a  lesson  to  nations,  which  may  be  easily  read, 
however  difficult  it  may  be  to  profit  by  it.  When  united  in  one  firm 
confederacy,  they  had  shown  themselves  able  to  cope  with  the  mighti- 
est and  most  distant  empires ;  when  diviJed,  they  fell  a  prey  to  a 
comparatively  petty  and  half-civilized  tribe  in  their  own  immediate 
neighborhood. 

2.  Already,  one  by  one,  the  isles,  colonies,  dependencies,  and  trib- 
utaries, upon  which  a  very  great  part  of  the  early  power  of  the  Gre- 
cian states  depended,  had  been  lost  lo  them  through  their  own  intestine 
dissensions.  The  battle  of  Chaeronea  now  left  them  almost  entirely 
bereft  of  all  possessions,  excepting  such  as  lay  within  and  around  the 
walls  of  their  own  cities. 

3.  Yet,  curtailed  as  their  resources  were,  a  circumstance,  which 
took  place  in  the  year  following  the  battle,  showed  satisfactorily,  that 
even  at  the  very  last  moment,  had  they  made  common  cause  with  each 
other,  the  power  of  Philip  would  have  been  totally  ineffective  against 
them. 

4.  At  the  period  referred  to,  (337  B.  C.,)  the  King  of  Macedon 
called  a  general  convention  of  the  Amphictyonic  states  at  Corinth, 
from  which  the  Lacedaemonians  alone  absented  themselves.  Those 
who  were  present  made  a  calculation  of  the  forces  they  could  con- 
junctly raise,  and  it  was  ascertained  that  an  army  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  foot  and  fifteen  thousand  horse,  could  yet  be  brought 
into  the  field  by  the  republics  of  Greece.  Sorely  must  the  spirit  of 
these  once  proud  states  have  been  humbled  and  broken,  when,  with 
such  an  available  force  at  command,  they  tamely  submitted  to  the  nod 
of  a  semi-barbarous  despot. 

5.  The  motives  of  the  Macedonian  king  for  assembling  the  states 
at  Corinth  were  of  the  same  ambitious  character  with  those  which  had 
influenced  the  other  actions  of  his  life.  The  conquest  of  Greece  had 
always  been  regarded  by  him  as  merely  a  step  to  the  conquest  of  Asia, 
which  he  well  knew  could  not  be  accomplished  without  the  friendship 
and  aid  of  the  turbulent  states  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  his  own 
kingdom. 

CXI.  —  I.  What  lesson  may  be  drawn  from  ihe  fate  of  the  Grecian  slates?  2.  What 
had  they  already  lost?  What  was  left  them  by  the  battle  of  Chaeronea?  3,  4.  What  cir- 
cumstance shows  that,  had  the  Grecian  states  stood  together,  the  powar  of  Philip  would 
bare  been  ineffective  against  them?  -* 


AHATIC   EXPEDITION. 


305 


6.  These  ulterior  views  unquestionably  constituted  a  strong  reason 
lor  his  treating  the  Grecian  republics  with  gentleness  after  his  Chaero- 
nean  victory,  and  for  his  permitting  them  to  retain  their  ancient  insti- 
tutions, and  a  show,  at  least,  of  their  former  independence.  The  op- 
pressive cruelty  of  Persia,  and  her  satraps,  to  the  dismembered  Grecian 
colonies  on  the  coasts  of  Lesser  Asia,  formed  the  plea  upon  which  he 
claimed  the  assistance  of  the  convocated  states  at  Corinth,  for  his  med- 
itated invasion  of  Asia. 

7.  His  designs  were  entered  into,  with  much  seeming  readiness,  by 
the  convention.  He  was  named  general  of  the  confederacy,  and  the 
din  of  military  preparation  once  more  sounded  through  Greece.  Cer- 
tain disturbances  in  Ulyria,  with  some  domestic  dissensions  in  Macedon. 
prevented  the  king  from  immediately  entering  on  the  Asiatic  expedi- 
tion. 


Assassination  of  Philip. 

8.  Alexander  quarrelled  with  his  father  on  account  of  the  manner 
in  which  Philip  had  treated  his  mother  Olympias,  and  an  open  rupture 
ultimately  ensued,  in  consequence  of  which  Alexander  threw  himself, 
in  a  moment  of  irritation,  into  the  arms  of  the  discontented  Illyrians. 

5.  What  of  Philip's  motives?  His  designs  against  Asia?  6.  How  did  these  views 
affect  his  treatment  of  the  Greeks?  What  was  his  excuse  for  claiming  their  assistance 
against  Asia  ?  7.  How  were  his  designs  entered  into  by  the  confederacy  ')  What  of  the 
iisturbauces  in  Ulyria? 

20 


ftOtf  PEKIOI)  IV.— 404  B.  C.  TO  146  13.  C 

The  king  attacked  and  overcame  the  Illyrians,  and  at  ihe  same  ime 
employed  all  his  art  in  soothing  Alexander,  in  which  endeavor  he  was 
wholly  successful. 

0.  These  occurrences  occupied  a  considerable  space  of  time,  and 
the  opportunity  of  Asiatic  conquest  parsed  away.  Philip  was  assas- 
sinated, in  the  streets  of  his  capital,  by  a  Macedonian  named  Pausa- 
nias,  who  was  bribed  to  the  act,  as  some  asserted,  by  the  Persians. 

10.  There  seems  some  ground  for  believing,  nevertheless,  that 
Alexander  only  put  forth  this  imputation  in  order  to  justify  his  Asiatic 
invasion,  if,  indeed,  it  were  not  done  as  much  for  the  purpose  of  clear- 
ing himself  and  his  mother  Olympias  from  the  suspicion  which  fell 
very  generally  upon  them  of  being  privy  to  the  crime. 

11.  But  it  is  only  fair  to  state,  that  Aristotle,  who  was  most  prob- 
ably in  Pella  at  the  time,  ascribes  the  act  to  private  revenge  on  the 
part  of  Pausanias,  who  was  taken  and  put  to  death  immediately  after 
the  deed.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  Philip's  assassination  was  a 
matter  of  congratulation  to  all  the  republican  Greeks,  and  that  the 
Athenians,  especially,  still  preserved  enough  of  their  spirit  of  liberty 
to  rejoice  at  the  death  of  their  country's  greatest  foe. 


Athenians  rejoicing  at  the  death  of  Philip. 

12.  The  character  of  Philip  of  Macedon  has  been  very  variously 
represented  in  history.  By  his  contemporaries,  as  well  as  by  poster- 
ity, by  friends  and  by  foes,  the  greatness  of  his  abilities  has  been  ad- 
mitted. But  the  motives  which  regulated  his  conduct,  both  in  a  public 
and  a  private  capacity,  have  been  viewed  in  very  opposite  lights. 

8.  The  quarrel  of  Alexander  with  his  father?  What  of  Philip's  attack  upon  lie  Illy- 
rians) 9.  What  of  Philip's  assassination?  10.  What  imputation  is  Alexander  supposed 
to  have  put  forth  ?  It.  What,  however,  is  said  by  Aristotle?  The  rejoicing  of  •.he 
<5i  eeks  ? 


CHARACTER  OF   PHILIP.  JJ07 

IS.  That  he  was  ambitious  of  power,  and  unscrupulous  about  the 
means  of  acquiring  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  by  any  one  who  looks 
impartially  at  his  career.  The  possessor,  at  the  outset,  of  a  poor  and 
unimportant  province,  he  had  made  himself,  before  his  death,  the 
ruler,  virtually  at  least,  of  a  hundred  principalities. 

14.  Arms  were  freely  and  unhesitatingly  used,  when  occasion  de- 
manded their  exercise,  to  obtain  for  him  this  extended  dominion.  But 
policy  was  his  most  potent  instrument.  No  prince,  in  the  annals  of 
history,  ever  carried  the  arts  of  diplomatic  intrigue  to  such  a  pitch  as 
Philip  of  Macedon  ;  and  though  we  must  remember  that  most  of  the 
contemporary  writers  who  delineated  his  character  were  his  avowed 
enemies,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  they  have  done  him  no  injustice 
in  representing  bribery  as  the  basis  of  his  whole  policy. 

15.  When  desirous  of  subjecting  any  community  to  his  influence 
or  his  empire,  his  first  step,  on  all  occasions,  was  to  discover  and  gain 
over  to  his  side  its  factious  and  discontented  members,  who,  if  they 
did  not  accomplish  his  ends  for  him  by  secret  manoeuvring,  might,  at 
all  events,  cripple  and  curb  the  exertions  of  his  adversaries  in  the  same 
community,  and  render  an  open  conquest  by  arms  much  less  difficult. 

16.  But  although  Philip  scrupled  not  to  make  use  of  the  basest 
tools  to  aid  him  in  the  acquisition  of  power,  he  showed,  on  many  oc- 
casions, sufficient  greatness  of  mind  to  employ  the  power  thus  acquired 
with  nobleness  and  generosity.  His  conduct  to  the  Athenians,  after 
the  battle  of  Chajronea,  even  admitting  that  he  was  partly  prompted  to 
it  by  a  view  to  his  own  ulterior  interest,  was  magnanimous  and  humane. 

17.  When  advised  at  that  period  by  his  generals  to  attack  Athens, 
he  calmly  replied,  "  Have  I  done  so  much  for  glory,  and  shall  ] 
destroy  the  theatre  of  that  glory  ?"  Other  sayings  of  his,  of  a  similar 
character,  and  uttered  under  the  like  circumstances,  have  been  recorded 
by  historians ;  and  from  these  it  may  be  fairly  inferred  that  Philip's 
thirst  for  power  was  largely  mingled  with  a  higher  sentiment  —  the 
love  of  doing  great  actions. 

18.  The  mixture  of  good  and  evil  in  his  character  is  still  more  forci- 
bly exhibited  by  his  conduct  in  other  capacities  than  those  of  a  war- 
rior and  statesman.  Though  almost  continually  engaged  in  the  hurrv 
of  war  and  politics,  he  was  a  lover  of  polite  learning,  and  of  all  those 
studies  which  soften  and  adorn  human  nature. 

19.  His  letter  to  Aristotle  on  the  birth  of  Alexander,  is  a  proof  of 
this  feature  in  his  character ;  and  he  gave  further  evidence  of  it  by  his 
continual  anxiety  to  attract  to  his  court  all  who  were  distinguished 
throughout  Greece  for  learning  and  literary  ability.  He  corresponded 
personally  with  various  eminent  philosophers  of  the  Grecian  schools, 
and  his  letters  are  said  to  have  been  remarkable  for  elegance  and  sound 
sense. 

20.  On  the  other  hand,  it  appears  probable  that  the  King  of  Mace- 

12.  What  of  the  character  of  Philip  of  Macedon?  13.  His  ambition?  His  power  at 
lus  death?  14.  His  power  in  war?  His  policy?  Intrigue?  Bribery?  15.  What  was 
his  first  step,  when  desirous  of  subjecting  any  community  to  his  influence?  16.  What 
of  his  generosity  in  the  use  of  power  acquired  by  base  means? 

17.  When  advised  to  attack  Athens,  what  did  he  reply?  What  may  be  inferred  from 
•uch  sayings?     18.  What  of  his  love  of  literature?    19.  His  letter  to  Aristotle?    Hia 


:308  TERIOD  IV.  — 404  B.  C.  TO  14G  B.  C. 

don  frequently,  if  not  habitually,  disgraced  himself  by  excessive  indul- 
gence in  the  vices  of  the  table,  and  also  embittered  by  his  infidelities 
the  domestic  peace  of  his  family.  A  pointed  appeal  by  an  old  woman, 
against  whom  the  king  had  given  judgment  in  a  cause  brought  before 
him,  has  perpetuated  the  memory  of  the  former  of  these  errors.  "  1 
appeal,"  cried  she,  "  from  Philip  drunk  to  Philip  sober."  To  his 
friends,  generally  speaking,  he  was  in  the  highest  degree  generous 
and  kind,  and  to  his  subjects  he  administered  justice  with  a  paternal 
and  impartial  hand. 


CHAPTER    CXII. 

Accession  of  Alexander. 

1.  The  condition  of  Greece  at  the  period  of  Philip's  death  is  suffi- 
ciently explained  by  the  circumstances  attending  the  convention  of 
Corinth,  where  every  Amphictyonic  state,  excepting  Lacedaemon,  vir- 
tually acknowledged,  through  its  deputies,  the  superiority  of  Macedon. 
The  views  of  Philip  in  calling  that  assembly  were  fully  participated  by 
Alexander,  who,  as  soon  as  he  mounted  the  throne  of  his  father,  took 
measures  to  carry  them  into  effect. 

2.  Before  being  securely  installed  into  the  Macedonian  sovereignty, 
Alexander  had  some  little  opposition  to  encounter  from  the  son  of  the 
late  king's  elder  brother ;  but  this  was  speedily  overcome.  His  quali- 
fications, indeed,  were  such  as  would  have  made  it  a  difficult  task  for 
any  one  to  rival  him  in  his  pretensions. 

3.  In  the  flower  of  youth,  possessed  of  a  handsome  and  active 
though  slight  person,  and  a  countenance  full  of  manly  beauty,  engag- 
ing in  his  manners,  and  already  renowned  for  military  skill  as  well  as 
chivalrous  valor,  Alexander  was  calculated  to  win  his  way  to  a  throne 
amid  a  hundred  claimants. 

4.  One  remarkable  instance  of  his  extreme  readiness  of  judgment 
in  mere  boyhood,  is  often  adverted  to.  A  fiery  horse  being  on  one 
occasion  brought  out  before  Philip  and  his  courtiers,  it  was  found  im- 
possible for  any  one  to  mount  the  animal,  until  Alexander  stepped 
forward,  and  accomplished  the  task  with  ease,  having  first  perceived 
that  the  immediate  cause  of  its  unmanageableness  lay  in  its  head  being 
turned  to  the  sun. 

5.  None  present  had  the  penetration  to  discover  this  but  the  royal 
youth.  The  same  horse,  under  the  name  of  Bucephalus,  is  said  to 
have  borne  Alexander  in  many  of  his  campaigns.  This  quickness  of 
:  tellect  had  every  advantage  of  cultivation  through  the  care  of  Aris- 
totle, one  of  the  most  enlightened  philosophers  of  antiquity. 

correspondence  with  philosophers?  20.  What  of  his  indulgence  at  the  table?  His  infi- 
delity? What  appeal  was  made  by  an  old  woman,  against  whom  he  had  given  judg- 
ment? 

CXII.  —  1.  How  is  the  situation  of  Greece  at  this  period  explained?  Were  the  views 
of  Philip  participated  by  Alexander  ?  2.  What  opposition  did  he  encoi  nter?  What  of 
h'.a  qualifications?  3.  His  appearance,  manners  and  valor?  4,5.  W hat  anecdote  it 
related  of  him  and  the  horse  Bucephalus? 


ACCESSION  OF    ALEXANDER. 


309 


6.  The  first  step  of  the  new  king:  was  to  attend  to  the  preservation 
of  the  Macedonian  influence  in  Greece.  For  this  purpose  he  made  a 
/ourney  to  Corinth,  receiving  on  his  route  thither  the  submission  of 
the  Thessalian  states.  On  reaching  Corinth,  he  called  together  the 
deputies  of  the  Amphictyonic  republics,  took  his  seat  among  them  as 
an  Amphictyon,  and  easily  procured  from  them  his  nomination  to  the 
post,  held  recently  by  his  father,  of  captain-general  of  the  Grecian 
confederacy. 


Alexander  and  Bucephalus. 

7  The  designs  on  Asia,  which  had  formerly  received  the  concut- 
rence  of  the  confederacy,  were  once  more  brought  forward  by  Alex- 
ander, and  assistance  was  again  promised  by  the  republics.  The 
king  then  returned  (335  B.  C.)  to  Macedon,  where  his  presence  was 
much  wanted. 

8.  Encouraged  by  the  death  of  Philip,  and  instigated  by  the  King 
of  Persia,  the  Illyrians,  Triballi,  and  the  independent  tribes  of  Thrace 
Aith  oth^r  nations  bordering  on  Macedon,  had  taken  up  arms  againsf 
that  power,  and  threatened  it  with  serious  calamities. 

6.  What  was  Alexander's  first  step  ?  How  did  he  advance  this  purpose  1  What  did 
M  procure  from  the  Amphictyons?     7.   The  designs  on  Asia?    8.   What  diaturbaives 


310  PERIOD  IV. -404  EC.  TO  146  B  C. 

9.  Alexander,  by  his  skill  and  valor,  suppressed  the  hostilt  tribes 
without  much  difficulty,  and  proved  to  his  barbarian  neighbors  what 
*e  had,  in  a  different  spirit,  told  his  subjects  on  his  accession,  that 
"the  king's  name  only  was  changed;  but  the  king  remained  the 
same." 

10.  A  fearful  token  that  Philip's  son  was  his  equal  in  ability,  was 
also  given  soon  afterwards  to  the  states  of  Greece.  While  Alexander 
was  engaged  in  Illyria,  a  report  of  his  death  spread  abroad.  The 
republican  party  at  Athens  were  uplifted  by  the  intelligence,  and 
Lacedaemon  again  dreamt  of  being  the  head  of  Greece  ;  but  it  was  at 
Thebes  that  the  rumor  excited  the  greatest  sensation. 

11.  That  city  had  ever  before  its  eyes  a  humbling  memorial  of 
departed  liberty,  in  the  Macedonian  garrison  which  had  been  placed 
by  Philip  in  the  citadel  called  the  Cadmea.  On  the  news  being 
brought  that  the  young  sovereign  of  Macedon  was  dead,  an  opportu- 
nity seemed  to  present  itself  for  casting  off  this  thraldom. 

12.  The  party  opposed  to  the  interest  of  Alexander  arose,  and  put 
to  death  Amyntas  and  Timolaus,  who  were  the  commanders  of  the 
citadel,  but  did  not  reside  in  it.  An  assembly  of  the  people  was  then 
summoned,  the  news  was  revealed  to  them,  and  they  were  urged  to 
attack  the  Cadmea. 

13.  Alexander,  seeing  the  necessity  of  suppressing  this  outburst  at 
the  commencement,  instantly  marched  for  Thebes,  and  reached  it  in 
the  wonderfully  short  spac »  of  fourteen  days.  He  was  desirous  of 
giving  the  insurgents  an  opportunity  of  submitting  peaceably,  but 
they  rashly  issued  from  the  city  and  attacked  the  Macedonians.  The 
result  was,  that  Thebes  fell  into  the  power  of  Alexander's  army,  and 
was  utterly  destroyed. 

14.  An  immense  number  of  the  inhabitants  were  slain,  and  about 
thirty  thousand  dragged  into  captivity.  The  walls  and  houses  of  the 
ancient  city  of  Cadmus — the  nurse  of  Epaminondas  and  of  Pindar  — 
were  razed  to  the  ground. 

15.  Amidst  measures  so  unsparing,  Alexander  exhibited  several 
traits  of  humane  and  honorable  feeling.  From  veneration  for  literary 
merit,  he  saved  from  destruction  the  house  in  which  the  bard  Pindar 
had  lived.  The  house  of  a  noble  lady,  named  Timoclea,  had  been 
broken  into  by  a  band  of  Thracians,  the  leader  of  whom  had  subjected 
her  to  the  grossest  violence. 

16.  Afterwards,  on  his  requesting  her  to  show  him  where  her  treas- 
ure was  concealed,  she  led  him  to  a  well,  and,  as  he  was  stooping 
over  it,  she  threw  him  in,  and  overwhelmed  him  with  stones.  She 
was  immediately  seized  and  carried  before  Alexander,  who,  struck  by 
her  majestic  appearance,  asked  "  who  she  was,  that  could  venture  to 
commit  so  bold  a  deed  ?" 

17.  "  I  am,"  said  Timoclea,  "  the  sister  of  Theagenes,  who  fell  at 

had  arisen   in  Macedon   during  Alexander's  absence?     9.   How  did  he  quell  them? 

10.  What  rumor  was  spread  abroad  while  Alexander  was  in  Illyria  ?  How  did  the 
report  affect  Lacedremon?  II.  The  people  of  Thebes?  J 2.  What  was  the  fats  of 
Amyntas  and  Timolaus ?    What  were  the  people  then  urged  to  do? 

13.  What  did  Alexander  instantly  do?  What  was  he  desirous  of  doing  ?  What  was 
the  result?     14.    The  fate  of  Thebes ?     15.   What  of  Pindar's  house  I    .6,17.    What 


INVASION  OF  ASIA.  31 

Chaeronea,  fighting  at  the  head  of  the  force  he  commanded,  against 
your  father,  for  the  liberties  of  Greece."  The  boldness  of  this  reply 
did  not  injure  her  with  Alexander ;  on  the  contrary,  he  saved  her  and 
her  children  from  the  doom  of  slavery,  which  fell  on  all  the  devoted 
Thebans,  of  whatever  age,  sex,  or  rank,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
persons  who  escaped  in  the  tumult  to  Athens. 

18.  The  fate  of  Thebes  excited  a  degree  of  awe,  most  favorable  to 
Alexander's  influence,  among  the  states  of  Greece.  All  of  them, 
excepting  Sparta,  which  still  preserved  a  show  of  gloomy  indifference 
to  passing  events,  sent  congratulatory  addresses  to  Alexander,  on  his 
return  to  Macedon. 

10.  Athens  on  this  occasion  received  a  sharp  and  unpleasing 
answer,  which  showed  him  to  be  perfectly  aware  of  the  hostility  of  a 
great  party  there  to  his  cause.  He  called  on  the  republic  to  deliver 
up  to  him  Demosthenes  and  nine  others,  whom  he  described  as  the 
chief  fomenters  of  all  disturbances  in  Greece. 

20.  The  Athenians  in  reply,  exhibited  a  perfect  readiness  to  com- 
ply with  his  wish,  but  begged  that  the  parties  might  be  left  to  the  arm 
of  domestic  justice.  The  young  king  complied  with  the  request,  and 
was  soon  too  much  occupied  with  more  important  affairs  to  pay  much 
attention  to  the  punishment  of  a  few  Athenian  politicians,  who  thus 
escaped  his  vengeance. 


CHAPTER   CXII1. 

Invasion  of  Asia  by  Alexander.  —  Victory  at  the  Gra?iicus. 

1.  Soon  after  his  return  to  Macedon,  Alexander  entered  upon  the 
long-meditated  invasion  of  Asia.  At  this  time,  the  vast  extent  of 
country,  enclosed  partly  by  the  Caspian,  Mediterranean,  and  Euxine 
Seas,  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  together  with  nearly  as  wide  a  region  in 
the  centre  of  Asia  and  on  the  east  of  Persia  and  the  Caspian  Sea, 
constituted  the  possessions  of  the  Persian  crown. 

2.  Darius  Codomannus,  a  prince  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  and  not 
undistinguished  for  courage,  ability,  and  other  praiseworthy  qualities, 
was  at  the  head  of  this  great  empire.  The  people  of  Persia,  how- 
ever, had  long  degenerated  from  the  character  which  had  been  borne 
by  their  ancestors.  The  Persians  were  at  first  poor  but  hardy  deni- 
zens of  the  wild,  and  by  these  qualities  they  had  been  enabled  to  form 
a  great  state. 

3.  But  ease,  and  the  possession  of  a  rich  country  for  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years,  had  been  fatal  to  the  qualities  through  which  it  was 
acquired.     The  revenues  of  numberless  wealthy  and  fertile  provinces 

anecdote  is  told  of  Timoclea  ?  The  doom  of  the  Thebans  ?  18.  What  effect  had  the  fate 
of  Thebes  upon  the  Grecian  states?  19.  What  did  Alexander  demand  of  Athens? 
20.   What  was  the  reply  of  Athens  ?    The  result  ? 

CXI  II.  —  1.  What  did  Alexander  do  after  his  return  to  Macedon  ?  What  countries  were 
possessed  by  the  Persian  crown  ?  2.  Who  was  at  the  head  of  this  empire?  What  of 
bim?    The  Persians?    3    The'r  character  and  situation  at  this  time  1    4.  What  cities 


312  PERIOD  IV.—  404  B.  C     TO  146  B.C. 

comprehending  the  most  valuable  portion  of  Asia,  and  also  a  part  of 
Africa,  had  immersed  the  Persian  monarchy  in  sloth,  effeminacy,  and 
luxury. 

4.  Within  the  bounds  of  these  provinces,  stood  the  cities  of  Susa, 
Persepolis,  Ecbatana.  Arbela,  Damascus,  Babylon,  and  others,  the 
largest  capitals  then  existing  in  the  world,  and  filled  with  the  accu- 
mulated treasures  of  centuries.  Numerous  governors  or  satraps  were 
necessary  to  hold  these  wide  dominions  together,  and  to  make  their 
produce  and  resources  available  to  the  court  of  Susa,  the  city  where 
the  Great  Kings  usually  lived. 

5.  A  large  standing  military  force  was  always  requisite  for  the 
same  purpose,  seeing  that  fear  was  the  only  bond  which  could  retain 
these  satrapies,  or  even  their  satraps,  in  subjection  to  the  Persian 
throne.  There  existed  no  community  of  interests,  of  language,  or  of 
religion,  to  create  a  stronger  and  more  durable  union. 

6.  The  King  of  Mucedon  left  his  home  in  the  spring,  (334  B.  0.,) 
at  the  head  of  an  army  of  thirty  thousand  infantry,  and  nearly  five 
thousand  horse.  Twelve  thousand  of  the  foot  soldiery  were  supplied 
by  the  republics  of  Greece,  though  live  thousand  of  that  number  were 
not  civic  troops,  but  mercenaries. 

7.  Macedon  itself  supplied  twelve  thousand  of  the  infantry,  and  the 
remainder  appear  to  have  been  chiefly  derived  from  Thrace  and  Illyria. 
Macedon,  Thessaly,  and  Thrace,  at  all  times  better  provided  with 
horses  than  republican  Greece,  furnished  Alexander  with  his  cavalry. 
The  whole  army  crossed  the  Hellespont  at  Sestos,  in  galleys  and 
transports. 

8.  All  this  while  the  Persian  king  was  perfectly  aware  of  the 
intentions  and  movements  of  the  Macedonians,  but  left  the  task  of 
opposing  them,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  satraps  in  the  west  of 
Lesser  Asia.  Nor  were  these  dignitaries  idle  ;  with  the  standing 
forces  in  the  provinces  of  Lydia,  Phrygia,  Cappadocia,  B.thynia  and 
Ionia,  they  approached  the  Hellespont  to  give  battle  to  Alexander, 
soon  after  his  landing. 

9.  The  eastern  bank  of  the  river  Granicus,  at  a  point  not  above 
thirty  miles  distant  from  the  Hellespont,  was  the  spot  fixed  upon  by 
the  Persian  satraps,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  Memnon  the  Rhodian, 
for  meeting  the  enemy.  To  the  Granicus,  after  having  visited  the 
site  of  Troy,  and  sacrificed  to  the  gods  there,  Alexander  also  came  up 
with  his  army,  and,  after  a  skilful  disposition  of  his  troops,  made  an 
attempt  to  pass  the  river  in  the  face  of  the  Persians. 

10.  He  himself  led  the  cavalry  across,  leaving  Parmenio  to  follow 
with  the  rest  of  the  forces.  The  Persians  behaved  with  courage,  and 
drove  the  Macedonians  back  into  the  river.  But  Alexander  animated 
his  men  with  voice  and  arm,  and  a  landing  was  safely  effected. 

etood  within  these  boundaries ?  What  of  the  governors  necessary  in  these  dominions? 
5    For  what  purpose  was  a  military  force  always  necessary  ? 

6.  With  what  army  did  Alexander  leave  home?  What  portion  was  supplied  by  Greece? 
7.  By  Macedon?  Thrace?  From  what  countries  were  the  cavalry  obtained?  Where 
did  the  army  cross  the  Hellespont )  8.  What  did  the  Persian  king  do  in  the  iman  time? 
His  satraps  ? 

9.  What  spot  was  fixed  upon  fir  meeting  the  enemy  ?  What  did  Alexander  do  before 
Miming  to  the  Granicus?     10.   What  of  the  landing?     11.  What  of  Alexander's  exploits  J 


MCTOKk-  AT  THE  GRANICUS. 


3M 


11.    In  the  battle  which  ensued,  the  young-  king,  conspicuous  bv 
nis  shining  armor  and  his  position  in  front  of  his  followers,  performed 


Battle  of  the  Granicus. 

many  acts  of  heroism,  cutting  down  with  his  own  hand  Mithridates, 
son-in-law  of  Darius,  and  piercing  the  heart  of  Raesaces,  another  noble 
of  high  rank.  A  lexander's  daring:  would  indeed  have  proved  fatal  to 
him,  but  for  the  interposition  of  Clitus,  one  of  his  father's  old  captains, 
who  struck  ofif  the  arm  of  an  enemy,  as  the  scymeter  which  it  held 
was  descending  upon  the  king's  head. 

12.  When  the  Macedonian  phalanx,  and  the  rest  of  the  infantry, 
made  their  way  across  the  Granicus  under  Parmenio,  fortune  speedily 
determined  the  day  in  favor  of  the  invaders.  The  number  of  the 
Persians  whu  fell  in  this  battle  has  not  been  well  ascertained,  but  it 
is  said  to  have  been  very  great,  while  Alexander  lost  only  thirty  of 
his  infantry,  and  eighty-five  of  his  horsemen.  Among  the  Persians 
slain  were  several  satraps,  and  others  of  distinguished  rank. 

13.  The  conqueror  displayed  much  humanity  after  the  battle  to  his 
prisoners,  and  to  the  wounded  of  the  enemy,  as  well  as  to  those  of 
his  own  men  who  were  in  that  condition.  A  large  body  of  Grecian 
mercenaries  who  fought  against  him  were  taken  prisoners,  and  as  a 
punishment  for  serving  their  country's  adversaries,  were  sent  to  work 
in  the  Thracian  mines. 

14.  Alexander  politely,  as  well  as  politicly,  made  the  Grecian 

His  narrow  escape  7  12.  How  was  the  fortune  of  the  day  turned?  The  number  of  the 
slain  ?     13.    What  c  f  Alexander's  humanity  1    How  did  he  punish  the  Grecian  mercena 

■v 


314 


PERIOD  IV.— 401  B.C.   TO   146  B.C. 


states  participators,  as  it  were,  in  his  victory,  by  sending  to  Athens 
three  hundred  suits  of  Persian  armor,  to  be  placed  in  the  temple  of 
Minerva,  with  this  inscription  :  Alexander,  son  of  Philip,  and  the 
Greeks  —  excepting  the  Lacedaemonians  —  offer  these,  takef 
from  the  Barbarians  of  Asia. 


Alexander  crossing  the  river  Gramcus. 

15.  Having  effectually  quelled,  by  this  victory,  all  opposition  for  a 
time  in  the  open  field,  Alexander  proceeded  to  execute  the  ostensible 
purpose  of  his  invasior  ;  to  relieve,  namely,  the  Grecian  colonial 
settlements  on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  from  the  oppression  of 
Persia.  He  marched  first  to  Sardis,  the  Lydian  capital,  which  opened 
its  gates  to  him,  and  entreated  and  obtained  his  favor  and  friendship. 

16.  Ephesus,  the  Ionian  capital,  was  the  next  important  city  which 
he  visited,  and  to  its  inhabitants,  also,  Alexander  behaved  generously, 
assuring  them  of  his  aid  to  secure  them  in  future  against  Persian 
exaction,  and  assisting  them  to  rebuild  their  famous  temple  of  Diana, 
long  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  ancient  world. 

17.  Miletus  and  Halicarnassus,  the  capital  cities  of  Caria,  pre 
(tented  closed  gates  to  Alexander.     He  besieged  and  took  them  both, 


14.  How  did  he  make  the  Greek  state3  participators  in  his  victories?  15.  What  was 
the  ostensible  purpose  of  his  invasion?  Where  did  he  first  march  J  16.  His  visit  to 
Kphewus?     17.  Miletus  and  Halicarnassus?    'fhe  resistance  of  Halicarnassus?     IS.  H..» 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  ASIATIC  INVASION.  316 

although  Halicarnassus  put  him  to  considerahle  trouble,  being"  de- 
fended by  Memnon  of  Rhodes,  one  of  Darius'  most  able  generals. 
Mflmnon  having  contrived  to  shut  himself  up  in  a  strong  castle,  which 
Alexander  did  not  think  proper  to  waste  time  in  storming,  the  latter 
found  ;t  necessary  to  demolish  Halicarnassus,  that  it  might  not  afford 
a  post  of  vantage  in  future  to  the  enemy. 

18.  This  was  almost  the  first  instance  in  which  the  Macedonian 
prince  had  yet  done  the  slightest  injury  to  private  or  public  property. 
Wherever  he  had  gone  he  had  conferred  bounties  ;  and  thus  it  was, 
that  all  the  provinces  which  he  had  passed  through,  with  the  numer- 
ous cities  and  towns  which  they  contained,  espoused  his  cause  with 
ardor,  and  remained  long  deeply  attached  to  him. 

19.  To  the  Greeks  he  restored  their  popular  institutions,  and  he 
gave  the  Asiatics  permission  to  retain  their  own  hereditary  laws, 
being  equally  generous  to  the  native  races  as  to  the  descendants  of  the 
native  colonists.  Being  overtaken  by  the  winter  at  Halicarnassus,  he 
spent  a  part  of  the  season  in  that  district,  busy  in  settling  further  the 
government  of  the  maritime  provinces  which  he  had  conquered. 

20.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  he  permitted  those  of  his  soldiers 
who  had  been  recently  married  to  return  to  Macedon,  and  pass  the 
winter  in  their  homes.  This  was  one  of  the  kind  and  indulgent  ar- 
rangements which  rendered  him  the  idol  of  his  soldiery 


CHAPTER   CXIV. 

The  Gordian  Knot  cut. — Preparations  of  Darius. 

1.  Before  he  commenced  his  invasion,  Alexander  had  a  fleet  of 
considerable  strength  prepared  to  back  Iks  land  operations  ;  but  now, 
finding  it  to  be  utterly  ineffective,  in  consequence  of  the  superior  num- 
bers of  the  Persian  ships,  he  gave  orders  for  breaking  it  up,  saying  to 
his  generals,  that,  by  conquering  the  land,  he  would  render  himself 
master  of  the  sea,  since  every  harbor  that  surrendered  to  him  would 
bring  with  it  a  diminution  of  the  enemy's  naval  resources. 

2.  This  afforded  another  reason  for  his  confining  his  early  opera- 
tions to  the  coast ;  and,  accordingly,  he  spent  some  time  in  Caria, 
where  he  was  very  hospitably  received.  Though  much  urged  to 
partake  of  the  luxuries  of  the  place,  he  preferred  a  frugal  diet  and 
unostentatious  fare.  From  Caria  he  proceeded  to  Lycia,  a  large  mar- 
itime province,  containing  above  thirty  considerable  towns  and  sea- 
ports. 

3.  Having  received  the  submission  of  these  places,  he  visited  Pam- 
phylia,  the  next  maritime  district  in  his  line  of  progress.  He  found  it 
necessary  to  use  sharp  measures  with  Aspendus,  the  Pamphylian  cap- 
ital, the  people  of  which  were  disposed  to  trifle  with  him. 

did  he  treat  the  provinces  through  which  he  passed?     19    The  Greeks?    The  Asiatics  ? 
How  did  he  spend  the  winter?     20.  What  did  he  allow  some  of  his  soldiers  to  do  ? 
CXIV.  —  1.   What  had  Alexander  before  his  invasion  of  Asia  ?     What  order  did  he  now 


316 


PERIOD  IV.  — 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 


4.  While  in  Pamphy.ia,  Alexander  formed  the  resolution  of  desist- 
ing for  a  time  from  his  pursuit  of  the  coast  line,  and  of  marching  north- 
ward into  Phrygia,  where  he  expected  new  levies  from  Greece,  and 
also  to  join  forces  with  Parmenio,  who  had  been  sent  to  secure  the 
Macedonian  interests  in  that  province.  After  a  little  obstruction  from 
Ml  inland  tribe  called  the  Posidians,  Alexander  carried  this  intent  into 
execution,  and  arrived  at  Gordium,  the  ancient  capital  of  Phrygia, 
where  an  event  occurred,  which  was  considered  prophetic  of  his  fu- 
ture conquest  of  all  Asia 


Alexander  refusing  the  luxuries  of  Caria. 

5.  There  was,  in  the  citadel  of  Gordium,  a  consecrated  car,  which 
had  of  yore  brought  a  preserver  to  Phrygia  in  time  of  need,  when  the 
people  were  commanded  by  an  oracle  to  look  for  one  in  such  a  vehicle. 
The  car  had  been  reverently  kept  ever  since,  suspended  by  the  yoke 
to  a  wall,  and  fastened  with  a  thong  formed  so  artfully  of  the  rind  of 
a  carnol-tree,  that  no  eye  could  perceive  where  the  knot  began  or 
ended. 

6.  It  had  been  long  rumored  that  an  oracle  had  decreed  the  empiry 
of  Asia  to  him  who  should  undo  the  knot.     Alexander  visited  the 


five?    2.  What  of  his  visit  to  Caria?    3.  To  Pamphilia  ?    4.  What  resolution  did  Alex 
inder  form  in  Pamphilia?    His  arrival  at  Gordium  ? 
6   What  of  the  consecrated  car  in  the  citadel  of  Gordium?    6.  What  rumor  wa*  there 


THE  GOKUIAN   KNOT   CUT. 


117 


eonse:rated  car,  and  —  according  to  some  writers  —  being  unable  to 
loosen  the  thong-,  cut  it  with  his  sword.  According-  to  the  statement 
of  his  general,  Aristobulus,  who  was  present,  Alexander  only  wrested 
the  pin  from  the  beam,  and  said,  "  that  was  enough  to  make  him  lord 
of  Asia." 


Alexander  cutting  the  Gordian  knot. 

7.  Whatever  he  did,  his  army,  and  the  multitude  of  the  day, 
believed  him  to  have  undone  the  Gordian  knot,  and  a  storm  of  thunder 
and  lightning,  which  occurred  at  the  time,  perfected  the  impression. 
Alexander  politicly  gave  his  countenance  to  the  opinion,  by  perform- 
ing a  splendid  sacrifice  out  of  gratitude  for  the  future  glory  thus  de- 
creed to  him. 

8.  Alexander  met  Parmenio  in  Phrygia,  according  to  expectation. 
The  king  also  received  there  a  reinforcement  of  new  troops  from 
Greece,  accompanied  by  those  soldiers  who  had  been  permitted  to 
winter  at  home.  The  fresh  levies  consisted  of  little  more  than  a 
thousand  foot  and  five  hundred  horse ;  a  paucity  of  numbers  to  be 
ascribed  chiefly  to  the  powerful  check  exercised  by  the  fleet  of  Persia 


concerning  it?    What  of  Alexander's  visit  to  it?    7.  What  was  believed  in  regard  to  it? 
How  did  Alexander  give  his  countenance  to  this  opinion? 
6    What  did  he  receive  in  Egypt  ?     What  may  the  paucity  of  numbers  be  ascribed  U 1 
27* 


318  PERI  3D  IV.  —404  B.  C.  TO     46  B.  (J. 

under  Memnon  the  Rhodian,  upon  all   the  coasts  and  isles  of  tbn 
iEgean. 

9.  While  Alexander  was  in  Phrygia,  he  heard  of  Memnon 's  death, 
and  of  the  subsequent  withdrawal  of  a  large  portion  of  the  marines, 
or  land  force  serving  on  board,  from  the  fleet ;  which  circumstances 
induced  him  to  order  Antipater  again  to  raise  a  naval  armament  in 
Greece. 

10.  Having  completed  his  purpose  in  Phrygia,  the  Macedonian 
sing  soon  after  turned  his  attention  to  the  provinces  of  Paphlygonia 
and  Cappadocia,  the  possession  of  which  wa?.  necessary  to  render  him 
master  of  all  that  peninsular  region  of  Asia  enclosed  by  the  Euxine 
and  Mediterranean  seas.  Happily  for  his  purpose  Paphlygonia  was 
not  governed  by  a  satrap,  but  by  a  hereditary  prince,  who  had  been  a 
feudatory  of  Persia,  and  who  was  willing  and  desirous  to  acknowledge 
Alexander  as  paramount  sovereign  in  place  of  Darius. 

11.  The  Macedonian  monarch  entered  at  once  into  a  treaty  with 
the  Paphlygonians,  and  then  turned  his  attention  to  Cappadocia. 
This  was  a  satrapy  without  an  existing  satrap,  the  recent  holder  of 
that  office  having  perished  on  the  Granicus.  The  Macedonians, 
therefore,  felt  little  difficulty  in  overrunning  this  extensive  province, 
and  in  subjecting  it  to  their  leader's  authority. 

12.  Alexander's  prudence  in  securing  his  conquests  was  equal  to 
his  activity  in  making  them.  In  all  the  provinces  which  he  visited, 
wherever  he  found  an  existing  power  friendly  to  his  cause,  he  left  it 
undisturbed ;  and  wherever  an  authority  of  this  nature  was  deficient, 
he  placed  some  of  his  most  trusty  followers  in  the  vacant  office,  as- 
signing to  them  at  the  same  time  a  small  force  to  assist  them  in  the 
execution  of  their  duties,  and  otherwise  strengthening  their  hands  as 
firmly  as  he  could  well  do. 

13.  On  leaving  Cappadocia,  Alexander  again  directed  his  course 
southwards,  having  now  before  him  the  immediate  prospect  of  the 
severest  struggle  that  could  lie  in  his  way  in  Asia.  Intelligence  had 
been  for  some  time  before  him  that  Darius  was  engaged  in  assembling 
an  immense  army  on  the  plains  of  Babylon,  for  the  expulsion  of  the 
Macedonians  from  his  empire. 

14.  The  reasons  of  the  Persian  monarch  for  not  having  earlier 
appeared  on  the  field  in  person,  were  of  the  most  unworthy  character. 
He  had  at  first  hoped  and  endeavored  to  rid  himself  of  his  active 
enemy  by  the  treacherous  arm  of  a  private  assassin,  and  had  actually, 
on  one  occasion  during  Alexander's  past  Asiatic  career,  nearly  accom- 
plished this  most  ignoble  purpose. 

15.  A  Macedonian  noble,  Alexander,  the  son  of  ^Eropus,  who  had 
been  loaded  by  his  master  with  bounties,  was  seduced  by  the  promise 
of  ten  thousand  talents  to  conspire  against  his  benefactor's  life.  The 
treason,  however,  was  discoverol  in  time,  and  its  execution  prevented. 

By  what  circumstance  was  Alexander  induced  to  raise  £  naval  armament  in  Greece? 
.  3.  Where  did  he  next  turn  his  attention  ?     How  was  Paphlygonia  governed  ? 

II.  What  of  Cappadocia?  12.  How  did  Alexander  secure  his  conquests?  13  Whefs 
did  he  now  direct  his  course?  What  intelligence  did  he  receive  in  relation  to  Darius  J 
4.  What  were  the  reasons  of  Darius  for  not  appearing  before  ? 

15.  What  had  Alexander  of  jEropus  been  bribed  to  do?    Was  the  treason  successful  J 


BATTLE  OF  THE  ISSUS.  3 IS 

Such  were  the  weapons  to  which  Darius  at  first  had  rec<  urse  ;  and, 
even  when  he  took  up  arms  of  a  more  manly  nature,  he  did  not  desist 
from  the  attempt  to  suborn  the  followers  of  his  adversary. 

16.  These  practices  were  the  more  disgraceful,  when  pursued  by 
one  who  had  an  army  of  not  less  than  six  hundred  thousand  men  at 
command,  wherewith  to  meet  his  foe  in  the  fair  and  open  field.  With 
this  vast  force,  Darius,  accompanied  by  his  family,  —  according  to  the 
Persian  custom, — and  surrounded  by  all  the  trappings  of  eastern 
magnificence,  slowly  advanced  from  the  Babylonian  plains  into  Syria. 

17.  Alexander  also  drew  thither  from  Cappadocia,  but  first  made 
himself  master  of  the  province  of  Cilicia,  the  only  remaining  corner 
of  the  peninsula  of  Lesser  Asia  which  had  not  hitherto  succumbed  to 
his  arms.  While  at  Tarsus,  the  capital  of  Cilicia,  Alexander  threw 
himself  into  a  dangerous  illness,  by  imprudently  bathing  in  the  cold 
waters  of  the  river  Cydnus,  at  a  time  when  his  body  was  heated  by 
violent  exercise. 

18.  His  condition  was  thought  dangerous  by  all  his  attendants, 
excepting  Philip  the  Acarnanian,  an  eminent  physician,  whose  name 
has  been  rendered  famous  in  connection  with  an  incident  to  which  this 
illness  gave  rise.  While  Philip  was  handing  a  potion  to  the  king,  the 
latter  received  a  letter  from  Parmenio,  warning  him  that  the  physician 
had  been  bribed  to  poison  him. 

19.  Raising  the  draught  to  his  lips,  Alexander  handed  the  note  to 
Philip,  and  observing  no  change  in  his  countenance  during  its  perusal, 
drank  off  the  liquid  without  a  word.  His  confidence  was  not  mis- 
placed ;  the  physician  calmly  assured  him  of  the  falsehood  of  the 
charge,  and  the  issue  proved  his  words.  Alexander  recovered  hourly 
aftei  the  taking  of  the  critical  draught. 


CHAPTER    CXV. 

Battle  of  the  Issus  —  Tyre  and  Sidon. —  Siege  of  Tyre. 

1.  Syria  and  Cilicia  are  separated  by  a  range  of  mountains, 
passable  by  an  army  only  at  two  points,  the  one  called  the  Syrian 
frate,  and  the  other  the  Amanic.  Confident  in  the  devoted  valor  of 
his  troops,  and  eager  for  the  decisive  encounter,  Alexander,  on  his 
recovery,  led  his  army  through  the  first  of  these  passes  into  the  plains 
of  Syria. 

2.  He  had  no  sooner  done  this,  than  he  learned  to  his  surprise  and 
pleasure  that  Darius  had  left  the  open  country  of  Syria,  and  had  made 
a  movement  into  Cilicia  by  the  Amanic  gate,  nearly  at  the  same  mo- 
ment which  had  witnessed  the  transit  of  the  Macedonians  through  the 
other  gate. 

lb.  What  force  had  Darius  at  his  command?     How  did  he  advance  with  hia  army? 
17.  What  province  did  Alexander  now  take?    By  what  was  his  illness  caused?     18,  19. 
Wnat  occurred  between  him  and  Philip  the  Acarnanian? 
CXV.  —  1.   How  are  Syria  and  Cilicia  separated?    How  did  Alexander  pass  from  lh« 


J'20  PERIOD   iV.— 401   R.  C    TO   116   B.  U 

3.  Assembling  his  followers,  Alexander  eagerly  pointed  out  to  thcnt 
the  error  which  Darius  had  committed  in  withdrawing  his  forces  from 
the  open  plains,  and  taking  up  a  new  position  in  a  hilly  country,  where 
his  cavalry,  the  most  effective  part  of  his  army,  could  be  of  little  avail. 

4.  This,  and  other  topics  of  encouragement,  so  cheered  the  Mace- 
donians, that  they  entreated  to  be  led  instantly  to  battle.  Their  leader 
was  not  long  in  gratifying  their  ardor.  He  retraced  his  course  to  the 
Syrian  gate,  passed  through,  and  speedily  reached  the  river  Pinarus, 
on  the  opposite  bank  of  which  the  Persian  army  was  posted.  Alex- 
ander took  the  charge  of  the  right  wing  of  his  army,  leaving  the  left 
to  the  conduct  of  Parmenio. 

5.  On  the  approach  of  his  enemy,  Darius  posted  his  Greek  merce- 
naries, the  portion  of  his  army  upon  which  he  himself  placed  most 
reliance,  in  the  front,  opposite  to  the  Macedonian  phalanx.  These 
Greek  mercenaries  were  indeed  a  powerful  body,  amounting  in  number 
to  thirty  thousand  men. 

6.  The  Persian  monarch  flanked  these  with  his  heavy-armed  barba- 
rians, but  the  bulk  of  his  unwieldy  army  was  left  behind  in  a  state  of 
absolute  inutility,  as  the  confined  nature  of  the  ground  would  permit 
no  better  disposition  of  them.  Alexander,  on  reaching  the  bank  of 
the  Pinarus,  dashed  gallantly  into  the  river,  and  effected  a  landing  on 
the  opposite  side. 

7.  The  barbarian  forces  fled  before  him,  but  the  Greek  mercenaries 
maintained  for  a  time  an  obstinate  contest.  At  length  they  gave  way, 
and  on  all  sides  the  Persians  followed  their  example.  A  body  of 
Darius'  cavalry  remained  longest  on  the  field,  and  gave  an  opportunity 
to  their  sovereign  to  save  himself  by  flight. 

8.  The  retreating  Persians  were  cut  down  in  immense  numbers, 
one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  men  being  left  on  the  field.  The  vic- 
tory of  Alexander  (333  B.  C.)  was  compbte,  though  his  own  loss, 
chiefly  in  the  conflict  with  the  Persian  Greeks,  was  severe. 

9.  No  exact  record  of  its  amount  has  been  given  by  historians,  and, 
indeed,  the  numerical  strength  of  his  whole  forces  in  this  engagement 
is  a  matter  of  doubt;  it  being  only  known,  that,  in  addition  to  the 
army  brought  with  him  originally  from  Macedon,  he  had  latterly  re- 
ceived some  accession  of  numbers  from  the  Greek  cities  of  Asia. 

10.  The  camp  of  Darius,  with  all  its  treasures,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  victor,  as  did  also  the  family  of  the  vanquished  prince,  consist- 
ing of  his  mother  Sysigambis,  his  wife  Statira,  his  daughters,  and  his 
infant  son.  Alexander  treated  these  illustrious  captives  with  the  most 
respectful  and  compassionate  tenderness. 

11.  So  honorable  was  his  conduct  to  them  in  every  point,  that 
Darius  himself,  on  hearing  of  it,  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  M  If  it  be 

latter  to  the  former?  2.  What  was  he  soon  surprised  to  learn?  3.  What  did  he  point 
out  to  hi3  followers?  4.  Were  they  encouraged  by  this  ?  How  did  Alexander  retrace  his 
course?    Ofwhat  part  of  his  army  did  he  take  charge? 

5.  Where  did  Darius  put  his  Greek  mercenaries?  What  of  this  body  ?  6.  How  did 
he  flank  them?  What  of  the  bulk,  of  his  army?  7.  How  did  Alexander  land?  What 
of  the  progress  of  the  battle? 

8.  The  loss  of  the  Persians?  Of  Alexander?  9.  What  is  known  in  regard  to  hia 
forces?  10.  Waal  fell  into  his  hands?  How  did  he  treat  hia  caotives?  11.  What  i 
l)arius  said  to  have  exclaimed? 


TYRE  AND  SIDON. 


323 


»he  will  of  Heaven  that  I  am  no  longer  to  be  King  of  As>ia,  may 
Alexander  be  my  successor!" 

12.  Alexander  followed  up  the  victory  of  the  Issus  —  as  it  wa# 
named  from  the  field  which  was  its  scene  —  by  marching  along  the 
coast  of  Syria,  which  everywhere  submitted  to  him,  into  Phoenicia. 
On  his  way  thither,  a  deputation  reached  him  from  the  unfortunate 
Darius,  who  had  escaped  in  safety  to  Susa,  and  who  now  made  prop 
ositions  for  a  treaty  of  peace  and  friendship  with  his  conqueror. 

13.  Conscious  of  his  power,  and  irritated  at  the  lordly  terms,  it  has 
been  said,  in  which  the  Persian  still  thought  proper  to  address  him, 
Alexander  replied,  that  he  could  only  enter  into  amicable  negotiations^ 
on  condition  of  being  acknowledged  "  King  of  Asia,  and  Lord  of  Darius 
and  all  he  possessed." 

14  Here,  for  the  time,  the  matter  rested,  and  the  Macedonian  pur- 
sued his  course  along  the  Phoenician  coast.  The  famous  sea-port  of 
Sidon,  and  other  cities,  the  centres  of  the  commerce  between  Asia 
and  the  Mediterranean  for  many  centuries,  readily  gave  in  their  alle- 
giance to  him ;  but  Tyre,  the  greatest,  and  most  flourishing  of  them 
all,  followed  a  different  line  of  conduct. 


lb.   Its  people  sent  ambassadors  to  Alexander,  it  is  true,,  professing 
themselves  ready  to  obey  his  commands ;  but  when  he  declared  his 

12.  How  did  Alexander  follow  up  his  victory?    What  deputation  reached  him  from 
.}ariu3?      13.  How  did  he  reply?     14.  What  of  Sidon  and  Tyre?     15.  What  pum< 

21 


3:2:2  period  iv.— 404  b.  c.  to  146  b.  c. 

intent  to  visit  their  city,  and  offer  sacrifice  to  Hercules,  their  tutelary 
deity,  the  Tynans  had  the  boldness  to  tell  him  that  they  declined 
admitting  either  Persian  or  Macedonian  within  their  walls. 

16.  Tyre's  strength  of  position,  doubtless,  encouraged  its  citizens 
to  this  braving  of  the  Macedonian  power.  Old  Tyre,  a  colonial  settle 
ment  (1252  B.  C.)  of  the  Sidonians,  had  been  built  upon  the  main 
land ;  but  Nebuchadonosor,  the  Assyrian  king,  had  razed  it  to  the 
ground,  and  driven  its  people  for  refuge  (572  B.  C.)  to  a  neighboring 
island,  half  a  mile  distant  from  the  main  land,  where  a  new  city 
rapidly  sprang  up,  even  more  powerful  and  flourishing  than  the  first. 

17.  Depending  upon  the  depth  of  the  encircling  waters,  and  upon 
the  stupendous  walls,  above  one  hundred  feet  high,  and  proportionable 
in  thickness,  which  encompassed  this  second  Tyre,  its  island-citizens 
now  dared  to  refuse  an  entrance  to  Alexander,  whom  they  knew  to 
have  no  naval  force  at  command,  and  whom  they  therefore  hoped  suc- 
cessfully to  resist. 

18.  They  knew  not,  however,  the  indomitable  energies  of  the 
youthful  Macedonian.  He  saw  clearly  the  danger  of  permitting  such 
a  nucleus  of  naval  strength  as  Tyre  to  remain  in  alliance  with  Persia, 
and  he  accordingly  resolved,  at  whatever  cost,  to  become  master  of 
the  island  capital.  Unbaffled  as  yet  in  any  of  their  attempts,  his 
army  adopted  his  views  with  ardor,  and  the  siege  of  Tyre  was  com- 
menced. 

19.  In  order  to  open  a  passage  for  his  army,  since  other  modes  of 
access  were  beyond  his  reach,  Alexander  undertook  the  construction 
of  a  great  mole  between  the  city  and  land.  He  defended  his  men, 
while  laboring  at  this  work,  by  wooden  towers  and  other  contrivances  ; 
yet  the  Tyrians  galled  them  sorely,  and  retarded  their  operations,  by 
ignited  darts,  projectiles  of  various  kinds,  and  fire-ships. 

20.  The  mole  advanced,  nevertheless,  slowly,  yet  surely,  until  one 
night  the  besieged  towed  a  huge  hulk,  filled  with  combustibles,  to 
the  works,  and,  by  setting  fire  to  it,  were  successful  in  utterly  destroy- 
ing the  results  of  many  weeks'  labor.  Alexander  became  convinced 
by  this  misfortune  of  the  necessity  of  having  the  assistance  of  ships  in 
his  attack,  and  he  was  fortunate  enough  to  obtain,  ere  long,  what  ho 
required. 

21.  The  city  of  Sidon,  and  others  of  the  maritime  Asiatic  states, 
sent  him  all  their  war-galleys  to  aid  in  his  designs  on  Tyre,  and  these 
wrere  joined  by  squadrons  from  the  islands  of  Rhodes  and  Cyprus, 
which  had  been  tributaries  to  Persia,  and  now  thought  fit  to  cultivate 
Alexander's  good  graces.  On  receiving  these  valuable  auxiliaries 
jperations  were  recommenced  with  double  vigor  both  by  land  and  sea. 

22.  The  mole  was  reconstructed,  and,  ultimately,  the  seemingly 
impregnable  city  of  Tyre  was  entered  by  storm.     It  would  appeal 

between  Alexander  and  the  Tyrians?  16.  How  were  the  Tyrians  doubtless  encour- 
aged to  this  act?  Where  had  old  Tyre  been  built?  Where  were  its  inhabitants  after- 
wards driven*    17.  Upon  what  did  the  citizens  of  Tyre  depend? 

18.  What  did  Alexander  clearly  see?  19.  What  did  he  do  in  order  to  open  a  passage 
for  his  army?  How  did  the  Tyrians  retard  them?  20.  How  were  his  labors  utterly 
destroy^.?  Of  what  was  Alexander  now  convinced?  21.  From  what  places  did  he 
obtain  reinforcements  ?     How  were  operations  recommenced? 


SIEGE   AxND  CAPTURE  OF  TYRE. 


32ri 


from  histoiy  that  the  final  and  successful  assault  was  mad*  nc-th  from 
tne  besieging  ships  and  the  mole      It  lasted  two  days,  and  viu>  Tynans 


Siege  of  Tyre. 

defended  themselves  with  almost  unparalleled  obstinacy.  The)  emp 
tied  on  the  assailants  vessels  of  boiling  tar,  and  burning  sand,  which 
penetrated  to  the  bone,  and  tried  every  means  that  patriotism  or 
despair  could  suggest  to  save  their  city. 

23.  But,  at  length  breaches  were  made  in  the  walls  by  the  batter- 
ing-rams and  other  engines  of  the  besiegers,  and  Tyre  was  taken,  (332 
B.  C.)  Eight  thousand  Tyrians  were  slain,  and  thirty  thousand 
reduced  to  servitude.  Alexander  is  represented  as  having  lost  four 
hundred  men  in  this  sie^ge,  which  occupied  a  period  of  seven  months. 

24.  Whilst  at  Tyre,  Alexander  received  a  second  letter  from 
Darius,  offering  to  the  conquering  Macedonian  his  daughter  in  mar- 
riage, with  all  the  country  between  the  Euphrates  and  the  Mediterra- 
nean for  her  dower,  as  the  basis  of  a  treaty  of  peace  and  amity.  Alex- 
ander returned  a  haughty  answer,  and  the  proposition  again  failed. 

25     It  is  recorded,  that  Parmenio  said  to  his  sovereign  on  this  offer 


22.  How  was  the  final  assault  made?  What  of  the  siege?  How  was  the  citv  at 
lenpth  taken?  The  loss  of  the  Tyrians?  Of  Alexander?  24.  What  proposition  i\a 
he  receive  from  Darius?  Was  it  accepted?  25.  What  passed  between  Alexander  and 
Parmenio? 


3!*4 


PERIOD   IV.  — 404  B.  C.  TO   146  B    U. 


oein£  icnde,  "  I  would  accept  the  terms ,"'  to  which  the  voting"  con- 
queror  replied,  "So  would  I,  were  I  Parmenio;"  a  retort  in  which 
egotism  is  carried  almost  to  sublimity. 


CHAPTER  CXVl. 
Alexander  in  Egypt.  —  Defeat  of  Darius. 

1.  Alexander  next  marched  onward,  to  punish  the  inhabitants  off 
Jerusalem  for  their  refusal  to  furnish  him  with  provisions  during  the 
siege  of  Tyre.  His  wrath  against  them,  however,  was  quite  disarmed, 
when,  on  approaching  the  city,  he  was  met  by  a  procession  of  the 
people,  led  on  by  their  chief  priest,  to  offer  their  submission  to  him. 

2.  The  priest  was  clad  in  white  robes,  and  on  his  mitre  was  in- 
scribed the  name  of  the  Most  High.  The  king  advanced  with  great 
tespect,  and  bowed  reverently  before  him,  which  excited  the  surprise 


Alexander  and  the  priest  before  Jerusalem 

of  his  officers.     "  It  is  net  the  priest  whom  I  adore,"  said  lie,  "  bu. 
the  God  whom  he  serves." 

3.    Having  received  the  submission  of  Jerusalem,  Alexander  bent 
his  course  to  Egypt,  which  he  was  determined  to  subject  to  bia 

CXV1.  —  1,2.  What  happened  to  Alexander  at  Jerusalem  ?    3.  At  Gaza  1    4.  How  was 


ALEXANDER  IN  EGYPT.  32-1 

authority.  In  his  progress,  he  besieged  and  took  Gaza,  the  only  citv 
of  Palestine  which  declined  to  acknowledge  his  sway.  In  this  citv  he 
torgot  his  wonted  clemency  ;  he  destroyed  the  whole  garrison  of  out 
thousand  men,  and  caused  the  governor,  Bcetis,  to  be  dragged  around 


Batis  dragged  around  the  ivalh  of  Gaza. 

the  city  behind  his  chariot  wheels,  in  barbarous  imitation  of  Achilles, 
who  dragged  Hector  round  the  walls  of  Troy. 

4.  His  career  in  Egypt  was  one  long  triumphal  march.  The  satrap 
Sabaces  having  perished  at  Issus,  the  country  was  governed  by  a  sub- 
ordinate officer,  who  offered  no  obstruction  to  Alexander,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  joined  the  Egyptian  people  in  welcoming  and  hailing  him  as 
their  lord  and  sovereign. 

5.  The  Macedonian  prince  directed  his  steps  to  Memphis,  the  cap- 
ital, where  he  held  a  splendid  festival,  and  gained  still  further  on  the 
affections  of  the  Egyptians,  by  joining  in  the  worship  of  their  ancient 
bull-deity,  Apis.  From  Memphis  he  passed  down  the  chief  branch 
of  the  Nile  to  the  city  of  Canopus,  and  observing  with  surprise  that  a 
country  so  fertile  and  so  rich  in  commercial  resources  was  possessed 
of  not  a  single  suitable  harbor,  he  resolved  upon  founding  a  maritime 
capital  which  should  give  the  country  one  imperishable  memorial  at 
least  of  his  name  and  rule. 

6.  He  fulfilled  his  purpose  in  the  foundation  of  the  city  of  Alexan 

ne  received  in  Eeypt?    5.  At  Memphis?    What  did   he  resolve  to  do  at   Carorust 
28  * 


TJ6 


PERIOD  IV.—  404  B.  C.  TO 


B.  G 


dria,  the  .site  of  which  was  so  well  selected,  that  it  rapidly  rose  to  the 
condition  of  a  flourishing- commercial  capital,  and  has  continued  through 
all  succeeding  ages  to  be  a  place  of  the  highest  importance  in  Egypt. 

7.  After  planning  this  monument  of  his  name  and  sagacity,  he  made 
an  excursion,  with  a  small  escort,  to  the  Desert,  with  the  view  of 
heholding  the  temple,  and  consulting  the  oracle  of  Jupiter  Ammon,  as 
his  renowned  ancestors,  Perseus  and  Hercules,  had  done  hefore  him. 

8.  The  temple  of  Ammon  was  situated  in  an  oasis  to  the  south-west 
of  Alexandria,  and  about  fifty  leagues  from  the  sea-coast.  Alexander 
admired  the  delicious  beauty  of  this  green  speck  in  the  barren  sands, 
and  after  receiving  a  most  favorable  answer  from  the  oracle,  rejoined 
his  army  at  Memphis. 

9.  As  Darius  had  assembled  a  new  army  in  Assyria,  Alexander 
now  made  arrangements  for  the  conduct  of  the  Egyptian  government, 
placing  some  of  his  trusty  followers  in  the  principal  posts,  and  took 
the  way  directly  from  Egypt  to  Assyria. 


Triumphal  display  of  Darius. 

it).  As  he  marched  chiefly  through  countries  which  had  already 
submitted  to  his  sway,  no  event  of  importance  occurred  until  he  met 
Darius  (331  B.  C.)  near  Arbela,  a  town  situated  a  few  days'  journey 
to  the  east  of  the  Tigris  in  Assyria. 

6    What  of  the  city  of  Alexandria  ?     7.  Where  did  he    now  make  an    excursion  ? 
8    What  of  him  at  the  temple  of  Ammon  J    9.  Why  did  Alexander  now  leave  Egypt 


DEFEAT  OF  DARIUS  AT  ARBELA. 


327 


11.  The  forces  of  Darius  on  this  occasion  outnumbered  those  under 
his  command  at  lssus,  but  Alexander,  also,  by  recent  reinforcements 
from  Europe  and  his  Asiatic  dependencies,  headed  a  larger  army  than 
formerly,  amounting  to  about  forty-seven  thousand  men,  of  whom 
nearly  one  seventh  part  consisted  of  cavalry. 

12.  The  lowest  computation  of  Darius'  horsemen  makes  them  forty 
thousand  in  number,  and  their  strength  was  increased  by  fifteen  ele- 
phants and  two  hundred  scythe-armed  chariots.  The  Persian  king 
had  not  the  advantage  of  so  powerful  a  body  of  Greek  mercenaries  as 
at  lssus,  though  in  other  respects  his  army  was  a  more  efficient  one. 
Instead  of  being  composed  of  the  effeminate  guards  and  standing 
troops  of  Persia,  his  forces  consisted  for  the  most  part  of  Parthians, 
Bactrians,  Indians,  Hyrcanians,  and  others  from  the  central  east  — 
troops  undisciplined,  indeed,  but  hardy  and  courageous. 

13.  Such  were  the  respective  characters  and  numbers  of  the  two 
armies  that  met  at  Arbela,  to  struggle  for  the  empiry  of  Asia.  In  the 
evening,  the  Macedonians,  on  ascending  an  eminence,  first  beheld  the 
wide-spread  soldiery  of  the  enemy,  drawn  up  in  good  order  on  the 
plain  below,  Darius  having  seen,  but  too  fatally,  the  disadvantages  of 
a  confined  position  with  such  numbers  and  cavalry  as  his. 


Persian  Arms 

1 1.  Both  armies  lay  quiet  all  night,  and,  in  the  morning,  Alexander 
ied  down  his  men,  in  two  heavy-armed  phalanxes,  of  sixteen  thou- 
sand men  each,  into  the  plain,  and  the  battle  was  begun.  After  the 
struggle  had  continued  for  some  time,  an  accidental  gap  in  the  enemy's 
line  enabled  Alexander  to  push  forward  a  wedge  of  squadrons,  which 
m  a  measure  decided  the  fate  of  the  battle. 

15.    From  that  moment  the  field  was  the  scene  of  a  slaughter  rathci 

10    Where  did  lie  meet  Darius?     11.  What  of  the  forces  of  Alexander?     12.  01  Darius  * 
13    Where  did  the  Macedonians  first  behold  the  army  of  Darius?     14.   How  was  tna 


328 


PERIOD  IV.—  404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  U. 


than  a  battle,  excepting  in  one  point,  where  a  strong  body  of  Parthian 
and  Indian  horse  maintained  an  obstinate  conflict.  They  were  at  lasl 
routed  by  the  Thcssahan  cavalry,  and  the  victory  was  won.  A  de- 
structive pursuit  completed  the  disasters  of  the  Persians,  of  whom 
nearly  forty  thousand  fell  on  this  occasion,  while  the  loss  on  the  part 
of  the  victors  is  rated  at  no  more  than  five  hundred  men. 

16.  Darius  again  saved  himself  by  flight ;  though  it  is  only  justice 
to  state,  that  several  historians  concur  in  representing  his  conduct  ir 
the  fight  as  far  from  being  pusillanimous,  or  unworthy  of  a  prince 
contending  for  a  throne. 


Retrtut  vj  Darius. 

17.  He  retreated  to  Media  with  a  few  of  his  followers,  resolving, 
if  pursued  thither  by  Alexander,  to  retire  still  further  to  the  eastward, 
and  seek  refuge  among  the  Bactrians,  a  people  dwelling  above  the 
springs  of  the  river  Indus. 

18.  Though  determined,  if  practicable,  to  get  the  person  of  Darius 
into  his  power,  in  order  to  give  the  adverse  tribes  of  central  Asia  no 
rallying  point  in  future,  Alexander  was  compelled,  in  the  first  place, 
to  direct  his  attention  to  the  consolidation  of  his  power  in  the  provinces 
which  his  late  victory  had  acquired  for  him. 

battle  he»un  ?     How  was  it  in  a  measure  decided?     15.   What  of  the  progress  of  the  bat 
tlel    The  loss  of  t lie  Persians  ? 

16.  How  did  Darius  save  himself?    What  is  said  of  his  conduct  during  the  fisht  ? 

17.  Where  did  ho  retreat?  What  did  he  resolve  upon  ?  18.  What  was  Alexander  r.jw 
*  impelled  to  do? 


BABYLON  AND  PERSEPOLlb  329 


CHAPTER   CXVII. 

Babylon  and  Persepolis.  —  Death  of  Darius.  —  Alexander  i?t 
Scythia. 

1.  From  Arbela,  therefore,  Alexander  led  his  army  southwards  tc 
Babylon,  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Assyrian  empire,  and  a  city  of 
great  extent  and  wealth.  Excepting  in  the  camps  of  the  defeated 
enemy,  and  at  Damascus,  in  Syria,  where  Darius  had  left  large  treas- 
ures before  the  battle  of  Issus,  Alexander  had  not  yet  laid  his  hands 
on  any  of  the  accumulated  wealth  of  the  Persian  monarchy ;  but  at 
Babylon  he  found  enough  to  have  gratified  the  wishes  of  any  con- 
queror. 

2.  He  was  enabled  to  give  ample  pecuniary  rewards  to  every  com- 
mon soldier  of  his  army.  On  marching,  as  he  did  after  settling  the 
government  of  Babylonia,  to  Susa,  the  seat  of  the  Persian  court,  and 
the  capital  of  Susiana,  the  province  intermediate  between  Babylonia 
and  Persia,  Alexander  received  a  still  greater  accession  to  his  treasury. 
Ten  millions  of  sterling  money  fell  into  his  possession  at  Susa. 

3.  The  Macedonian  king  exhibited  in  this  city  a  remarkable  instance 
of  his  humanity,  by  settling  the  family  of  Darius  in  the  royal  palace 
of  their  ancestors,  and  he  also  showed  a  high  degree  of  prudence  in 
appointing  a  native  chieftain  to  the  government  of  the  province.  He 
had  acted,  indeed,  in  the  same  politic  and  liberal  manner  at  Babylon, 
thus  ensuring  to  himself  the  affections  of  the  people. 

4.  The  next  movement  of  the  Macedonian  leader  was  towards  Per- 
sepolis, the  capital  of  Persia  proper,  where  further  accessions  of 
wealth  awaited  himself  and  his  army.  At  Persepolis,  Alexander 
spent  several  months,  and,  during  this  time,  gave  what  has  been  held 
to  be  one  of  the  first  indications  of  his  being  overcome  by  excessive 
prosperity. 

5.  At  a  magnificent  banquet,  Alexander,  heated  by  wine,  was 
induced  to  assent  to  a  proposition  made  by  one  of  his  companions  that 
a  bonfire  should  be  made  of  the  old  palace  of  the  Persian  kings.  The 
king  soon  repented  of  having  given  his  assent  to  this  mad  outrage,  but 
the  greater  part  of  the  palace  was  destroyed  ere  the  fire  could  be  extin 
guished. 

6.  Learning  that  Darius  was  still  at  Ecbatana,  Alexander  (330  B 
C.)  left  Persepolis,  and  hastened  thither.  On  reaching  the  Median 
capital,  the  Macedonian  king  was  apprized  that  Darius  had  departed 
only  five  days  previously,  with  a  small  body  of  attendant  troops. 
Alexander  instantly  followed  upon  his  footsteps  to  the  eastward,  and, 
after  a  long  and  toilsome  march,  performed  with  astonishing  celerity, 
came  near  to  the  object  of  his  pursuit  upon  the  borders  of  Bactriana. 

7.  Alexander,  however,  was  informed  here  that  Bessus,  the  satrap 

CXVII.  —  1.  Where  did  Alexander  now  march?  Had  he  yet  obtained  much  wealth? 
2.  What  was  he  enabled  to  do  at  Babylon?  What  did  he  obtain  at  Susa?  3.  What  of 
his  humanity  to  the  family  of  Darius? 

4.    What  was  his  next  movement?    How  long  did  he  stay  at  Persepolis?    5.   What 
happened  at  a  banquet  in  this  city  ?    6.   Where  did  Alexander  now  hasten  ?    Wrhat  did 
he  learn  at  Ecbatana?     Where  did  he  come  up  with  the  object  of  his  Dursuii? 
2R* 


U30  PERIOD  IV.  -404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

of  Baetriana,  who  was  in  company  with  the  Persian  king,  had  thrown 
off  his  allegiance  to  the  unfortunate  Darius,  and  kept  him  bocnd  as  a 
prisoner.  The  King  of  Macedon  continued  his  march  with  nven 
increased  speed,  and  at  length  beheld  the  party  flying  before  him. 

8.  As  he  was  pushing  onwards,  to  his  deep  and  sincere  affliction 
he  found  Darius  expiring  in  the  open  field,  having  been  stabbed  by 
two  nobles  in  attendance  on  Bessus,  with  the  view  either  of  stopping 
the  pursuit,  or  of  facilitating  their  own  flight.  Alexander  had  never 
sought  the  life  of  the  wretched  king,  and  he  now  hunted  the  murder 
ers  with  a  spirit  of  the  keenest  resentment. 

9.  Bessus  fell  into  his  hands,  after  the  cost  of  much  toil  and  suffer- 
ing, and  met  a  cruel  fate.  But  Bactria,  and  the  surrounding  prov- 
inces of  Aria,  or  Ariana,  and  Sogdiana  —  all  of  them  forming  part  of 
the  wide  region  now  called  Tartary  and  Turkistan —  were  not  sub- 
dued without  great  exertions,  extending  over  a  space  of  nearly  thre« 
years. 

10.  The  people  of  these  regions  receive  in  ancient  history  the  appel- 
lation of  Scythians,  as  indeed  all  barbarians  were  called  in  old  times. 
From  thence  Alexander  is  said  to  have  received  ceilain  dignified 
expostulations,  which  are  generally  considered  as  models  of  grave  and 
lofty  eloquence,  though  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  polished  historians 
who  record  them  have  much  more  right  to  the  honor  of  their  compo- 
sition than  the  barbarous  tribes  to  whom  they  are  ascribed. 

11.  As  a  specimen  of  the  pithy  figurativeness  of  the  addresses  said 
to  have  coma  from  the  Scythians,  their  question  to  Alexander  may  be 
quoted.  "  Have  you  furnished  yourself  with  winged  soldiers'?"  said 
they  to  him,  alluding  to  the  impregnable  character  of  their  country. 
The  pride  of  Alexander  was  aroused  by  this  and  more  lengthened 
reproofs,  and  he  never  desisted  until  he  had  subdued  these  provinces. 

12.  Nowhere  in  his  wide  career  of  conquest  did  he  exhibit  so  many 
of  the  qualities  of  a  soldier  and  captain  as  upon  the  plains  of  Scythia. 
Neither  cold  nor  heat,  hunger  nor  thirst,  danger  nor  toil,  wounds  nor 
disease,  could  induce  him  to  depart  from  his  purpose  ;  and  with  a  com- 
mander who  can  bear  all  these  casualties,  soldiers  will  effect  anything. 

13.  Towards  the  conclusion  of  the  Scythian  war,  the  Macedonian 
prince  took  in  marriage  Roxana,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  of 
the  east,  and  the  daughter  of  Oxyartes,  the  Bactrian,  who  had  been 
the  most  distinguished  of  his  opponents. 

14.  As  Parmenio  and  other  officers  had  been  in  the  mean  time 
engaged  in  the  subjection  of  Hyrcania  and  Partha,  two  districts  close 
by  the  Caspian  Sea,  the  reduction  of  Baetriana,  Sogdiana,  and  other 
territories  of  the  Scythians,  completed  Alexander's  conquest  of  the 
Persian  empire. 

15.  While  in  winter  quarters  (327  B.  C.)  in  Baetriana,  after  his 
laborious  task  was  completed,  Alexander  was  guilty  of  an  act  which 

7.  Of  what  was  he  here  informed?  8.  What  of  the  death  of  Dariua?  9.  The  fate  of 
Bessus?  What  of  the  surrounding  countries?  10.  What  were  the  inhabitants  of  these 
regions  called  ?    What  of  their  expostulations  with  Alexander  ? 

11.  What  specimen  is  given  of  their  style  of  address  ?  How  was  Alexander  affected 
by  this  question?  12.  What  of  Alexander's  soldier-like  qualities  upon  the  plains  of 
Scythia?  13.  Whom  did  he  take  in  marriage?  14.  How  was  his  conquer*,  of  the  Pel 
»ian empire  completed? 


death  of  :;Liru> 


333 


lhr«;w  a  deep  stain  upon  his  memory,  and  which  showed  that  his  char- 
acter was  gradually  deteriorating  under  the  intoxicating  influence  of 
success. 

16.  Originally  noted  for  his  temperance  at  table,  he  had  begun  to 
indulge  occasionally  to  excess  in  wine,  and  to  claim  the  ceremony  of 
prostration  and  other  honors  from  his  followers,  such  as  were  usually 
set  apart  for  the  gods. 

IT.  On  one  occasion,  when  a  feast  was  held  in  Bactriana,  in  honoi 
of  Castor  and  Pollux,  the  conversation  turned,  in  the  presence  of 
Alexander,  upon  the  comparative  grandeur  of  his  own  actions  and 
those  of  Bacchus,  who  also  had  conquered  Asia.  Many  present  gave 
the  palm  to  Alexander,  for  which  they  were  warmly  reproved  by 
Clitus,  the  same  captain  who  had  saved  the  king's  life  at  the  Granicus. 


Death  of  Clitus, 

18.    All  being  heated  with  wine,  the  discourse  grewr  warm,  and  at 
length  Clitus  blamed  the  king  himself  in  severe  terms  for  permitting 

15.  What  happened  at  Bactriana  ?  16.  What  ceremony  did  he  begin  to  demand  from 
his  followers  ?  17,  18,  19.  What  happened  between  Alexander  and  Clitus  ?  The  latter'* 
loath  ?    W  hat  of  Alexander's  repen  tance  ? 


'J32  PERIOD  IV.  — 404  B.  (TO   146  B.  'J. 

himself  to  be  compared  to  the  gods.  Inebriated  like  the  others,  Alex- 
ander was  so  provoked  by  the  reproof,  that  he  rose  and  advanced 
ingrily  to  Clitus,  who  was  thereupon  forced  from  the  room  by  some 
of  the  more  prudent  of  the  party. 

19.  He  returned,  however,  and  being  still  in  a  state  of  irritation, 
again  addressed  reproachful  words  to  the  king,  who  lost  all  com- 
mand of  himself,  and,  snatching  a  weapon,  killed  Clitus  on  the  spot. 
Almost  immediate  repentance  followed  ;  and  so  profound  was  the  feel- 
ing, that  Alexander  neither  tasted  meat  nor  drink,  nor  left  his  cham- 
ber, for  three  days,  until  his  faithful  and  grieving  followers  won  him 
by  their  entreaties  to  return  gradually  to  his  usual  mode  of  life. 


CHAPTER   CXVIII. 
Domestic  Affairs  of  Athens.  —  Invasion  of  India  by  Alexanaer. 

1.  Before  following  Alexander  in  his  subsequent  proceedings,  the 
domestic  affairs  of  Greece  may  be  adverted  to.  Only  one  affair,  in 
truth,  of  any  consequence,  had  disturbed  the  genera]  peace  of  the 
republics  during  the  absence  of  Alexander. 

2.  Lacedremon,  as  was  formerly  mentioned,  had  been  preserving  a 
sullen  neutrality  during  the  last  agitations  of  the  confederacy,  and 
had,  in  consequence,  been  gathering  a  little  strength. 

3.  Three  years  after  Alexander's  departure,  while  his  viceroy,  An- 
tipater,  was  occupied  in  Thrace,  Agis,  the  Lacedaemonian  king,  took 
advantage  of  the  seemingly  favorable  opportunity  to  make  a  demon- 
stration against  the  power  of  Macedon.  The  attempt  failed  signally. 
Antipater  turned  against  Agis,  defeated  him,  and  compelled  the 
haughty  Spartans  to  sue  humbly  for  peace,  which  Alexander,  on 
being  applied  to,  generously  granted  to  them. 

4.  Athens,  about  the  same  period,  was  the  scene  of  a  domestic  dis- 
putation, in  which  the  rival   parties  were  the  two  eminent  orators. 

*  Demosthenes  and  ^Eschmes.  Before  the  assembly  of  their  country- 
men, these  illustrious  speakers  engaged  in  a  trial  of  strength,  on  the 
issue  of  which  depended  the  best  interests,  if  not  the  life,  of  one  or 
other. 

5.  In  this  intellectual  contest  Demosthenes  was  successful :  ^Eschi- 
nes  was  condemned  to  exile.  It  is  much  to  the  honor  of  the  victor, 
that  he  behaved  with  extreme  generosity  to  his  adversary,  giving  him 
a  purse  of  gold  to  support  him  in  his  misfortune.     ^Eschines  showed 

*  at  he  too  was  a  noble  and  high-minded  rival. 

6.  Having  gone  to  Rhodes,  and  founded  a  famous  school  of  elo- 
quence, he  read  to  his  pupils  the  masterpiece  which  had  made  him- 

CXVIII.— 1.  What  of  the  affairs  of  Greece  in  the  mean  time  ?  2.  The  neutrality  of  Lace 
laemon?  3.  What  did  Agis  do  against  the  power  of  Macedon  ?  Was  the  attempt  suc- 
cessful? 4.  What  of  the  disputation  between  Demosthenes  and  .Eschines?  5.  Who 
«vaa  lucccasful  ?    How  did  he  behave  after  his  victory  1    6.  What  of  Eschir.es  at  Rhode* 


INVASION  OF  INDIA  IJ33 

.elf  a  homeless,  landless  wanderer,  and  when  they  could  rot  withhold 
the  most  vehement  applause,  he  said  to  them,  "  Ah  !  what  wouid  have 
been  your  admiration  had  you  heard  it  from  his  own  lips !" 

7.  About  this  time  Alexander  sent  to  Athens  the  statues  of  the 
tyrannicides,  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton ,  which  he  had  taken  at 
Susa,  whither  they  had  been  carried  by  Xerxes.  By  such  kindly  and 
oolitic  donations,  as  well  as  by  the  participation  in  his  glory  which 
accrued  to  the  republic  through  the  auxiliaries  sent  to  him,  Athens, 
the  ruling  state  of  Greece,  was  kept  in  a  pacific  and  friendly  attitude 
during  the  whole  of  the  conquering  career  of  Alexander. 

8.  The  grasp  of  his  ambition  widening  apparently  with  every  suc- 
cessive gratification,  Alexander  resolved  upon  an  incursion  into  India. 
He  had  been  frequently  joined  during  his  last  campaigns  by  new  con- 
tingents of  troops  from  Europe,  which  was  the  more  necessary,  from 
the  necessity  under  which  he  lay  of  leaving  small  parties  continually 
behind  him,  to  secure  his  acquisitions. 

9.  Large  bodies  of  the  Scythians  also  enrolled  themselves  under  his 
banner,  on  the  conclusion  of  hostilities  in  their  country.  It  was  with 
a  powerful  force,  therefore,  tnat  he  set  out  (327  B.  C.)  on  his  Indian 
campaign,  which  was  confined  in  a  great  measure  to  the  banks  of  the 
Indus  and  its  five  principal  tributaries. 

10.  His  course  was  vigorously  opposed  by  various  hardy  tribes 
dwelling  in  these  parts,  and  the  natural  difliculties  of  the  ground  were 
also  very  troublesome.  Having  passed  a  famous  city,  called  Nysa, 
said  to  have  been  founded  by  Bacchus,  Alexander  crossed  the  Indus, 
in  the  upper  portion  of  its  course,  and  continued  his  progress  amidst 
its  winding  branches. 

11.  He  soon  reached  the  one  named  the  Hydaspes  or  Shemtron, 
where  Porus,  a  warlike  native  prince,  had  assembled  an  army  of 
thirty-four  thousand  men,  with  many  armed  chariots  and  elephants,  to 
oppose  his  passage.  The  Macedonian  leader  saw  the  impossibility  of 
crossing  with  prudence  in  the  face  of  the  Indians,  and  he  accordingly 
had  recourse  to  the  expedient  of  lulling  to  rest  the  vigilance  of  Porus, 
who  was  both  brave  and  active. 

12.  Alexander  was  successful,  passed  the  river,  and  defeated  the 
enemy.  Porus  was  taken  alive,  and,  being  brought  before  his  con- 
queror, excited  much  admiration  by  the  loftiness  and  majesty  of  his 
person.  "How  can  I  oblige  you?"  said  Alexander  to  him.  "By 
acting  like  a  king,"  was  the  calm  reply.  "  That  I  shall  do  for  my 
own  sake;  but  what  can  I  do  for  yours?"  said  Alexander,  smiling. 

13.  Porus  repeated,  that  all  his  wishes  were  summed  up  in  his  first 
request ;  and  the  Macedonian  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  profound 
sense  of  what  was  great  and  becoming  in  a  king,  displayed  in  the 
captive's  words,  that  he  not  only  restored  him  to  the  throne,  thinking 

7.  What,  did  Alexander  about  this  time  send  to  Athens?  How  was  Greece  kept  in  a 
friendly  attitude  towards  Alexander?  8.  What  new  expedition  did  Alexander  now  re- 
solve upon  ?  What  accessions  of  troops  had  he  often  received?  9.  Wrhat  of  the  Scythi- 
ans ?     To  what  place  was  his  Indian  campaign  confined? 

10.  How  was  his  course  opposed?  What  city  did  he  pass  on  his  way  )  11.  What  ol 
Porus?  What  did  Alexander  see  was  impossible?  To  what  expedient  did  he  resort  J 
12.  Was  he  successful  ?  What  passed  between  him  and  Porus?  13.  How  did  Alexande' 
treat  hi  in  ? 


334 


PERIOD  IV.  -  404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 


that  the  duties  of  majesty  could  not  be  placed  in  more  capable  hands, 
but  afterwards  made  him  viceroy  of  all  his  Indian  conquests. 


Porus 


1  \.  On  the  Hydaspes,  Alexander  founded  two  cities,  Nicaea  and 
bucephalia,  naming  the  latter  in  honor  of  his  celebrated  horse,  which 
died  near  the  spot.  After  besieging  the  city  of  Sangala,  the  king 
found  himself  master  of  all  the  country  lying  among  the  tributaries  of 
the  Indus,  and  above  the  point  where  their  confluence  renders  thai 
river  one  mighty  stream. 

15.  He  himself  would  willingly  have  pushed  his  conquests  further, 
but  hfe  followers  were  anxious  to  return,  and  he  consented  to  then 
wish.  He  determined,  however,  to  return  by  the  coasts  of  the  Per- 
sian gulf,  and  for  this  purpose  collected  all  the  vessels  he  could  pro- 
cure, and  built  new  ones,  in  order  to  convey  his  army  down  the 
stream  of  the  Indus. 

16.  Several  months  were  spent  in  the  passage  of  the  army  to  the 
ocean,  their  course  being  seriously  impeded  by  the  barbarians  on  the 
banks  of  the  stream.  On  reaching  (325  B.  C.)  the  ocean,  Alexandei 
is  said  to  have  sat  on  a  rock  near  the  shore,  and  to  have  gazed  for  a 
long  time  at  the  mighty  expanse  of  waters,  weeping  bitterly  that  there 
were  no  more  worlds  to  conquer. 

14.  What  two  cities  did  Alexander  found  ?  What  extent  of  country  did  he  now  find 
himself  master  of?  15.  Why  did  he  push  his  conquests  no  further?  What  did  he  deter- 
mine, however,  to  do? 

16.  How  many  months  were  consumed  In  the  passage  of  the  Indus?     What  i*  A!tx 


ALEXANDER'S  SECOND  MARRIAGE  *)%£ 

17.    He  soon  set  out,  however,  on  his  march  along  the  sea-toast 
with  the  main  division  of  his  forces,  leaving  his  able  admiral,  Neo^- 


Alexander  gazing  at  the  ocean. 

chus,  who  wrote  an  account,  still  extant,  of  the  voyage,  to  pursue  his 
way  to  the  Euphrates  by  sea.  The  toils  of  the  first  portion  of  the  land 
inarch  were  very  severe,  but  they  were  lightened  to  the  soldiery  by  the 
sympathy  of  their  leader,  and  his  patient  endurance  of  the  hardships 
suffered  by  the  meanest  follower  in  his  train. 

18.  A  very  different  scene  was  presented  by  this  moving  force 
towards  the  close  of  their  travel  along  the  sea-shore.  When  they 
reached  the  fertile  district  of  Carmania,  a  province  of  Persia,  the 
march  of  Alexander  and  his  army  became  a  triumphal  procession,  the 
leader  himself  imitating  in  public  the  conduct  attributed  to  Bacchus, 
who  is  reported  to  have  danced  and  sung  with  his  companions  through 
all  Asia. 

19.  On  passing  Carmania,  and  entering  Persia,  Alexander  found 
that  several  of  his  satraps  had  been  tempted  by  his  long  absence  to 
assume  independent  authority.  The  governor  of  Persepolis,  who  had 
been  guilty  of  this  offence,  met  with  a  severe  punishment. 

20.  It  was  during  his  stay  at  the  Persian  capital  on  this  occasion 
that  he  took  to  wife,  the  customs  of  Macedon  permitting  polygamy, 
the  daughter  of  Darius,  whose  body  had  been  conveyed  to  Persepolis, 
and  interred  in  the  royal  cemetery  with  all  due  respect,  by  the  orders 
of  Alexander. 

ander  said  to  have  done  on  the  banks  of  the  ocean?  17.  With  what  part  of  the  army 
did  he  set  out  ?  What  of  the  toils  of  the  march  ?  18.  What  of  the  march  through  the 
district  of  Carmania?  19.  What  did  Alexander  find  had  happened  in  Persia?  20.  Wba? 
of  his  second  marriage?    What  had  been  done  with  the  body  of  Darius? 


tf36  PERIOD  IV.  —404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

CHAPTER    CXfX. 

The  Illness  and  Death  of  Alexander.  —  His  Character. 

1.  It  is  extremely  honorable  to  Alexander,  that  his  measures, 
during  all  the  intervals  of  war  in  his  career,  were  directed  to  the 
durable  improvement  of  the  countries  he  had  conquered.  After  put- 
ting the  government  of  Persia  into  more  trustworthy  hands,  he 
marched  to  Susa,  and  from  thence  to'Opis  and  Ecbatana.  In  all  these 
places  he  projected  improvements,  and  in  many  instances  perfected 
them. 

2.  He  proceeded  from  Ecbatana  towards  Babylon,  a  city  which  his 
existing  despondency  of  mind  rendered  him  reluctant  to  enter,  on 
account  of  various  prophecies  announcing  that  spot  as  destined  to 
prove  fatal  to  him.  He  nevertheless  sailed  down  the  Euphrates,  and 
did  take  up  his  abode  in  Babylon. 

3.  But  his  residence  there  was  not  of  long  duration.  In  conse- 
quence, it  is  generally  admitted,  of  an  excess  in  drinking,  he  brought 
on  a  severe  illness  which  proved  fatal  to  his  life.  During  the  prog- 
ress of  the  malady,  the  army,  as  on  various  former  instances  of  sick- 
ness, hung  around  him  in  a  state  of  inexpressible  anxiety  and  grief. 

4.  At  length,  on  the  case  becoming  desperate,  his  favorite  soldiery 
were  permitted  to  enter  his  room,  when  a  scene  took  place  which  has 
no  parallel  in  history.  Pale  and  speechless,  but  in  possession  of  con 
sciousness,  the  dying  chieftain  beheld  his  warriors  enter  one  by  one, 
weeping  bitterly,  to  take  their  last  look  of  him.  He  had  strength 
enough  to  hold  out  his  arm,  and  each  man,  as  he  passed  by,  kissed  the 
beloved  hand  which  had  so  often  waved  them  on  to  victory. 

5.  Alexander  died  (323  B.  C.)  in  Babylon,  aged  thirty-two  years 
and  eight  months.  His  illness,  which  resembled  an  irregular  semi- 
tertian  fever,  lasted  eleven  days,  and  terminated  his  life  precisely 
tv/elve  years  and  eight  months  after  he  had  mounted  the  Macedonian 
throne. 

6.  The  character  of  this  memorable  man  will  be  best  estimated  by 
a  reference  to  his  actions.  Though  a  severe  scourge  to  many  nations, 
he  effected  much  permanent  good  amongst  them.  He  roused  millions 
from  the  sleep  of  barbarism,  and  diffused  among  them  the  arts  and  the 
genius  of  Greece. 

7.  On  the  wide  field  of  his  conquests  he  founded  not  less  than  sev- 
enty cities,  the  sites  of  which  were,  in  most  instances,  so  felicitously 
chosen  as  to  redound  to  the  commercial  greatness  and  civilization  of 
the  countries  where  they  were  planted.  In  his  other  measures  of 
general  polity,  he  was  not  less  attentive  to  the  welfare  of  the  nations 
whom  he  subjected  to  his  sway. 

8.  In  his  private  character,  Alexander  appears  to  have  been  funda- 

CXIX.  —  1.  What  of  Alexander's  measures  during  ihe  intervals  of  war?  What  cities 
1id  he  visit?  2.  Why  was  he  reluctant  to  visit  Babylon?  Did  he  enter  the  city?  3. 
What  of  his  illness  ?    4.  The  affection  of  his  soldiers  ? 

5.  His  Jeath?  The  length  of  his  illness?  6,  7.  What  of  his  character  in  his  public 
^aoaci'.y?    8.   His  private  character?    9.  What  must  be  remembered  in  regard  \Q  A ri* 


DEATH  OF  ALEXANDER.  337 

mentally  liberal,  generous,  and  humane;  and  though  errors  and  vices 
came  in  the  train  of  his  astonishing  good  fortune,  fewer  odious  actions 
can  be  laid  to  his  charge,  than  to  that  of  most  other  conquerors.  For 
his  insatiable  ambition  and  disregard  of  human  life,  the  tone  and  tem- 
per of  his  age  form  the  only  excuse. 

9.  Insane,  almost,  as  his  thirst  of  power  appears  to  us,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  philosopher,  Aristotle,  nursed  in  Alexander's 
boyish  breast  the  spirit  which  blazed  forth  so  fiercely  in  his  manhood, 
and  that  the  wisest  men  of  his  times  viewed  his  career  with  admira- 
tion and  approval.  Other  stains,  certainly,  lie  upon  the  character  of 
the  Macedonian  prince,  which  were  peculiarly  his  own.  One  of 
these  —  his  excessive  indulgence  in  wine  —  brought  him  to  a  prema- 
ture grave. 

10.  The  death  of  a  man  whose  word  and  will  constituted  the  law 
of  the  greater  portion  of  the  known  world,  could  not  fail  to  be  produc- 
tive of  the  most  important  consequences ;  and  these  consequences 
afford  the  strongest  possible  evidence  of  the  consummate  personal 
ability  of  Alexander. 

11.  Whilst  he  lived,  the  numerous  generals  by  whom  he  was  sur- 
rounded, and  who  had  perpetually  before  their  eyes  a  most  seductive 
picture  of  successful  ambition,  appear  ever  to  have  instinctively  felt 
and  owned  the  presence  of  a  master,  and  to  have  entertained  no 
thought  of  aspiring  to  the  possession  of  independent  power. 

12.  But  as  soon  as  the  mighty  conqueror  died,  each  of  these  officers, 
in  looking  around  among  his  fellows,  saw  none  to  whose  pretensions 
he  would  sacrifice  his  own,  and,  iccordingly,  all  began  to  put  forward 
claims  to  a  share  of  empire.  It  chanced  that  Alexander  left  behind 
him  no  heir  of  his  person,  or  descendant  of  his  house,  capable  of  hold- 
ing together,  under  one  head,  hi*  wide  and  scattered  conquests. 

13.  Aridaeus,  the  natural  bruther  of  the  late  prince,  was  a  person 
whose  infirmity  of  mind  approached  to  fatuity,  and  neither  Roxana  nor 
Statira,  the  daughter  of  Darius,  ihe  wives  of  Alexander,  were  as  yet 
mothers.  They  were  in  expectation  of  being  so  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  and  Roxana  soon  after  brought  a  son  into  the  world.  Statira, 
before  a  similar  event  could  happen  in  her  case,  was  destroyed  by  the 
rival  queen. 

14.  At  a  great  assembly  of  the  principal  officers  of  Alexander,  held 
shortly  after  his  decease,  it  was  determined  that  Aridaeus,  and  Rox- 
ana's  expected  child,  if  a  son,  should  be  joint  successors  to  the  empire, 
and  that  Perdiccas,  to  whom  Alexander  had  consigned  his  ring  in  the 
last  moments  of  his  life,  should  be  regent  in  their  name. 

15.  None  of  the  parties  to  this  arrangement  had  any  intention  that 
the  rule  of  Aridaeus  and  the  infant  prince  should  ever  be  anything 
more  than  a  nominal  one,  as  they  at  the  same  time  divided  all  the  real 
authority  among  themselves,  under  the  title  of  lieutenants  or  viceroys. 
The  nuirner  of  these  lieutenancies,  according  to  the  original  distribu- 

totlel     10    What  of  the  consequences  of  his  death?     11.  During  his  life,  what  do  his 
generals  appear  to  have  felt?     12.  What  happened  after  his  death?    Did  he  leave  any 
heirs?     13.  What  of  Aridaeus?    Roxana  and  Statira? 
}■$.  What  was  determined  in  regard  to  the  successors  to  the  empire?     |5.  What  w 

§3 


'>3S  PKKIOD  IV.  -404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

lion,  wt&  very  gTeat,  amounting  to  nearly  forty  ;  but  this  form  of  go* 
eminent  endured  but  a  very  short  period. 

ltf.  Within  little  more  than  twenty  years  of  Alexander's  death, 
after  many  agitations,  in  the  course  of  which  Antigonus,  Eumenes, 
and  Perdiccas,  three  of  the  most  famous  of  his  generals,  fell  before  the 
arms  of  their  rivals,  the  whole  of  the  conquered  empire  had  separated 
itself  into  a  few  leading  states,  the  existence  of  which  was  prolonged 
until  the  victorious  power  of  Rome  arose  to  change  the  face  of  the 
world  anew 


CHAPTER    CXX. 

Kingdom  of  Egypt,  Syria,  fyc.y  founded. —  Recall  of  Exiles  to 
Athens.  —  Death  of  Demosthenes. 

I.  The  states  into  which  the  vast  empire  conquered  by  Alexander 
had  separated  itself,  and  which  were  alluded  to  at  the  close  of  the  last 
chapter,  were — first,  EGYPT,  which,  with  Arabia,  and  Palestine, 
fell  to  the  share  of  one  of  the  ablest  of  Alexander's  generals,  Ptolemy 
Lagus,  who  was  succeeded  on  the  same  throne  by  a  long  line  of 
plinces  of  his  name  and  house. 

ii  After  they  had  ruled  in  Egypt  for  nearly  three  centuries,  the 
iace  ot  the  Ptolemies  ended  in  a  female  of  singular  beauty,  but.  licen- 
tious character,  named  Cleopatra,  who,  on  the  seizure  of  her  kingdom 
(28  B.  C.)  by  Augustus  Caesar,  the  first  of  the  Roman  emperors,  ap- 
plied an  aspic  to  her  bosom,  and  died  from  its  venomous  bite. 

S.  Under  the  Ptolemies,  Egypt  held  a  high  place  among  the  na- 
tions, and  the  city  of  Alexandria  rose  to  be  one  of  the  noblest  capitals 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Several  of  the  princes  of  this  family  were 
liberal  patrons  of  learning  and  the  arts,  and  by  them  was  collected  at 
Alexandria  an  immense  library,  which  was  unfortunately  burnt  during 
an  attack  on  the  city  by  the  Romans,  under  Julius  Caesar,  the  prede- 
cessor of  Augustus. 

4.  Another  library  of  extraordinary  extent  was  collected  at  a  later 
period  in  Alexandria,  but  this  second  one  also  was  destroyed,  through 
the  barbarous  bigotry  of  the  early  followers  of  Mahomet.  The 
learned  have  never  ceased  to  lament  these  irreparable  losses. 

5.  The  second  of  the  four  states  based  upon  the  Macedonian  con- 
quests, was  the  kingdom  of  SYRIA,  which  comprehended  the  richest 
portions  of  As;d,  and  which  fell  to  the  lot  of  Seleucus,  whose  family, 
like  the  Ptolemaic  race,  kept  the  sovereignty  up  to  the  era  of  Roman 
supremacy.     Seleucus  founded  the  city  of  Antioch  on  the  eastern- 

the  intention  of  the  parties  to  this  arrangement?  How  was  the  authority  divided  ?  16. 
What  became  of  the  conquered  empire  twenty  years  after  Alexander's  death  ? 

CXX.— 1.  What  was  the  first  of  the  four  states  into  which  Alexander's  empire  was 
divided?  To  whose  share  did  this  kingdom  fall?  2.  Cleopatra?  Her  death?  3.  What 
of  Egypt  under  the  Ptolemies?  The  library  of  Alexandria?  4.  The  fate  of  this  and 
mother  library  collected  at  the  same  place? 

5  The  second  of  the  four  states?    To  whose  lot  did  it  fall  ?    What  city  did  Pelaucm 


RECALL  UF   EXILES  TO  ATHENS.  339 

most  angle  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  made  it  the  royal  seat  of  him 
self  and  his  descendants,  who  were  called  from  him  the  Selucidae. 

6.  The  kingdom  of  Syria,  extending-  as  it  did  from  the  Mediterra- 
nean almost  to  the  Indus,  was  originally  by  far  the  most  powerful  of 
the  states  into  which  the  Macedonian  empire  was  ultimately  divided 
but  various  provinces  in  succession  gained  their  independence,  and  hat 
greatly  narrowed  the  power  of  the  Selucidae,  before  the  final  over 
throw  of  the  family,  after  a  rule  of  about  two  centuries,  by  the 
Romans. 

7.  The  third  of  the  states  under  notice  was  the  conjunct  kingdom 
of  THRACE  and  BITHYNIA,  which  two  countries  occupied 
respectively  the  European  and  Asiatic  sides  of  the  Bosphorus,  and 
became  the  possession  of  Lysimachus,  another  of  the  warlike  follow- 
ers of  Alexander. 

8.  The  fourth  of  these  states  included  MACEDON  and  GREECE. 
Before  narrating  into  whose  hands  this  division  of  the  empire  fell,  it  is 
necessary  to  revert  to  the  condition  of  Greece  during  the  final  years 
of  Alexander's  life. 

9.  The  fruitless  attempt  of  the  Spartans  under  Agis,  against  the 
Macedonian  viceroy,  Antipater,  has  been  already  alluded  to.  Having 
succeeded  in  quelling  this  insurrectionary  movement  on  the  part  of 
Lacedaemon,  Antipater  shortly  afterwards  contrived  to  weaken  the 
anti-Macedonian  party  in  Athens,  by  procuring  the  banishment  of  one 
who  was  its  life  and  head,  the  orator  Demosthenes 

10.  Harpalus,  one  of  Alexander's  captains,  haying  drawn  down  on 
himself  the  merited  displeasure  of  his  master,  tied  from  Asia  to  Athens, 
in  the  hope  of  purchasing  an  asylum  there  with  his  peculated  gold. 
Nor  was  he  disappointed  in  his  expectation  that  the  favor  of  many  of 
the  leading  Athenians  was  to  be  bought  for  a  price. 

11.  Phocion  and  Demosthenes  alone  discountenanced  Harpalus; 
but  in  the  end,  even  Demosthenes  was  reported  to  have  taken  a  bribe. 
Whether  this  accusation  was  just  or  not,  it  ultimately  procured  the 
banishment  of  the  orator. 

12.  A  threat  from  Antipater  compelled  the  Athenians  to  expel 
Harpalus  hurriedly  from  their  city,  and  to  impeach  those  who  had 
accepted  of  his  presents  or  adopted  his  cause.  On  Demosthenes,  as 
one  of  this  number,  a  heavy  fine  was  imposed,  and  being  unable  to 
pay  it,  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  retiring  to  the  island  of  iEgina. 

13.  After  this  event,  nothing  occurred  for  a  time  to  agitate  the 
public  mind  of  Greece,  until  Alexander  caused  a  proclamation  to  be 
made  by  his  representatives  at  the  Olympic  Games,  to  the  effect  "  that 
ill  the  Grecian  cities  should  immediately  recall  and  receive  those  per- 
sons who  had  been  exiled  from  them,  and  that  such  cities  as  refused 
to  do  so,  should  be  forced  to  compliance  by  the  Macedonian  arms." 

14.  At  the  period  when  this  decree  was  issued,  the  exiles  from  the 

found?  6.  What  of  ihe  kingdom  of  Syria,  originally?  7.  The  third  state?  8.  The 
fourth?     9.    What  of  Antipater  in  Athens?     Whose  banishment  did  he  procure? 

10.  What  of  Harpalus?  What  did  he  hope  to  do  at  Athens?  11.  Who  alone  dis 
countenanced  him?  What  was  reported  of  Demosthenes?  12.  What  did  Antipater 
compel  the  Athenians  to  do  ?     The  exile  of  Demosthenes  ? 

13.  What  proclamation  did  Alexander  cause  to  be  made  at  the  Olympic  Games? 
?4    What  was  the  number  of  the  exiles  from  the  various  republics?     What  were  Alex- 


^40  PERIOD  IV  -404  B.  C.  TO  146  B  C 

various  republics  amounted  to  not  less  than  twenty  thousand  persons, 
and  Alexander  probably  hoped,  by  restoring  these  to  their  homes,  to 
strengthen  durably  his  interest  and  influence  in  the  several  states  of 
Greece.  There  was.  besides,  a  semhlance  of  generosity  in  such  an 
act,  that  might  have  blinded  even  himself  to  its  insulting  and  tyran- 
nical nature. 

15.  It  was  viewed  as  a  gross  piece  of  despotic  insolence  by  most  of 
the  republics,  and  in  no  other  light,  indeed,  could  they  well  regard  an 
order,  which  called  upon  them  again  to  receive  into  their  society  men 
expelled  by  the  public  voice  as  guilty  of  enormous  crimes.  Athens, 
in  particular,  felt  deeply  indignant  at  this  imperious  decree,  and  endeav- 
ored, not  without  success,  to  awaken  a  spirit  of  resistance  among 
some  of  the  other  states. 

16.  Such  was  the  state  of  Greece  when  intelligence  was  received 
that  Alexander  had  suddenly  died.  The  news  at  once  decided  the 
Athenians,  iEtolians,  and  other  allies,  upon  rising  against  Antipater, 
and  endeavoring  to  throw  off  the  galling  weight  of  Macedonian  ascen- 
dency. 

17.  A  considerable  army  was  speedily  assembled,  which  was  placed 
under  the  command  of  Leosthenes,  an  Athenian  general  of  skill  and 
repute.  At  the  same  time,  the  people  of  Athens  sent  a  galley  to 
^Egina  for  Demosthenes  ;  thus  showing  clearly,  that,  had  the  Olym- 
pic proclamation  pointed  only  to  such  men  as  he,  they  would  have 
displayed  no  aversion  to  its  fulfilment. 

18.  When  the  illustrious  orator  reached  the  precincts  of  Athens, 
his  countrymen  of  every  age,  rank,  and  sex,  flocked  out  to  meet  him, 
and  conveyed  him  within  the  walls  with  the  warmest  demonstrations 
of  respect  and  joy.  Neither  Demosthenes  nor  Phocion,  the  two  most 
experienced  patriots  then  existing  in  Athens,  seem  to  have  expected 
any  lasting  benefit  from  this  outburst  of  the  ancient  spirit  of  their 
country. 

19.  Nevertheless,  in  the  outset  of  the  contest  with  Antipater,  there 
did  appear  some  hope  of  more  than  temporary  success.  Leosthenes 
led  the  allied  army  into  Thessaly,  where  an  engagement  took  piace, 
in  which  the  Macedonians  sustained  a  decided  defeat. 

20.  Yet  Antipater  supported  his  military  reputation  by  the  excel- 
lent order  of  his  retreat,  and  was  enabled  to  throw  his  forces  into  the 
Thessalian  city  of  Lamia,  which  he  defended  obstinately  against  the 
Athenians  and  their  confederates.  At  last  he  made  a  successful  sally, 
md  escaped  with  his  troops  through  the  midst  of  the  besiegers. 

21.  This  put  it  in  his  power  to  join  the  reinforcements  which  he 
had  sent  for  from  Asia,  and  soon  after  he  encountered  and  defeated  the 
allies  at  Cranon  in  Thessaly.  The  vanquished  were  compelled  to  sue 
for  peace,  which  Antipater  granted,  but  upon  terms  most  humbling 
to  the  Athenians.     Demosthenes  and  others  were  to  be  delivered  up 

ander's  motives?  15.  How  was  the  proclamation  viewed  by  the  republics  generally? 
By  Athens? 

16.  What  did  the  news  of  Alexander's  death  decide  the  Athenians  upon  doing? 
17.  What  of  the  army  raised  ?  The  recall  of  Demosthenes  ?  18.  How  was  he  received  i 
What  did  he  expect  from  ihis  outburst  of  spirit? 

19.  The  result  of  the  first  battle?  20.  Whatof  the  retreat  of  Antipater  ?  Hisescape? 
l\     What  did  this  put  it  in  his  power  to  do  ?    His  next  sucress  ?     What  were  the  con- 


DKATH  C*  ANTIPATER  AND  PHOCION.  341 

to  the  Macedonians ;   Athens  was  to  bear  the  expenses  of  the  war, 
and  a  Macedonian  garrison  was  to  be  installed  within  that  city. 

22.  When  Demosthenes  heard  of  the  conditions  imposed  upon  Lis 
country,  lie  fled  to  Calauria,  a  small  island  near  iEgina,  in  the  mouth 
of  the  Saronic  Gulf.  Hither  he  was  followed  by  Archias,  a  man  who 
had  taken  upon  himself  the  base  task  of  delivering  up  the  orator  and 
other  proscribed  persons  to  Antipater,  and  who  now  endeavoured  to 
persuade  Demosthenes  that  the  Macedonians  intended  him  no  injury. 

23.  Being  seated  calmly,  when  found  by  Archias,  in  the  temple  of 
Neptune,  the  fugitive,  on  hearing  the  deceptive  words  addressed  to 
him,  begged  to  be  allowed  to  retire  a  little  further  into  the  fane,  ii 
order  to  write  a  few  words  to  his  family. 

24.  He  then  stepped  aside,  and  chewed  a  quill  containing  poison 
after  which  he  moved  again  towards  Archias,  and  fell  down  dead  at 
the  foot  of  the  altar.     Thus  closed,  according  to  the  received  accounts, 
the  life  of  one  whose  equal  as  an  orator,  if  we  may  trust  to  the  almost 
unanimous  voice  of  mankind,  has  never  since  appeared. 


CHAPTER    CXXI. 
Death  of  Antipater  and  Phocion. 

1.  Antipater  being  called  into  Asia  shortly  after  this  period  to 
assist  in  quieting  the  dissensions  prevalent  there,  the  A\tolians  took 
the  opportunity  of  again  attacking  the  Macedonian  territories,  but  were 
equally  unsuccessful  as  in  the  former  enterprise. 

2.  Peace  was  restored  before  the  return  of  Antipater,  the  fatigues 
of  whose  Asiatic  expedition  proved  fatal  to  him.  While  on  his  death- 
bed, he  gave  a  striking  proof  of  his  disinterested  regard  for  the  interests 
of  the  Macedonian  power. 

3.  His  son,  Cassander,  expected  to  have  been  appointed  his  suc- 
cessor, but  Antipater,  disregarding  the  claims  of  relationship,  nomi- 
nated Polyperchon,  the  oldest  of  Alexander's  generals  then  in  Europe, 
to  the  high  offices  of  protector  and  governor  of  Macedon.  This 
situation  involved  also  the  guardianship  of  Aridrcus  and  Roxana's  son 
Alexander. 

4.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  new  protector  of  Macedon  had  the 
lamentable  effect  of  causing  the  death  of  Phocion,  the  last  of  all  the 
Athenians  worthy  to  be  ranked  with  the  great  men  of  old.  Being 
desirous  of  removing  the  governors  appointed  by  Antipater,  that  he 
might  the  better  concentrate  the  power  of  the  monarchy  in  his  own 
hands,  Polyperchon  gave  orders  for  the  dismissal  of  the  Macedonian 
garrisons  from  Athens  and  other  cities. 

5.  The  Athenians  exulted  at  this  decree  ;  but  Nicanor,  the  gover- 

ditions  of  peace?  22.  The  flight  of  Demosthenes?  By  whom  was  he  followed  ?  2.3.  How 
was  he  found  by  Archias  ?  What  request  did  he  make  to  him  ?  24.  The  manner  of  his 
death  ? 

CXXI  —  1.  What  did  the  iEtolians  do  on  Antipater's  being  called  to  Asia?  Theii 
success?  2.  What  of  Antipater  on  his  death-bed?  3.  Who  expected  to  be  his  succes- 
sor?    Wbc  was  appointed  by  Antipater?     What  did  this  situation  involve? 

4.  What  affect  had  one  of  the  first  acts  of  Polyperchor  ?  5.  How  was  this  biougUl 
29* 


343  PERIOD  IV.  — 404  B.C.  TO  146  B.  C. 

nor  of  the  garrison  in  their  city,  refused  to  obey  the  protector's  com- 
mauds,  ami  Phocion  was  accused  of  abetting-  his  contumacy.  Neither 
pausing-  to  inquire  into  the  justice  of  the  charge,  nor  permitting  him 
to  defend  himself  against  it,  the  Athenians,  in  their  blind  fury,  first 
proscribed  the  aged  patriot,  and  afterwards  put  him  to  death. 

6.  Phocion  was  a  man  of  the  most  unsullied  virtue,  and  of  the  most 
eminent  talents  as  a  warrior  and  statesman.  He  had  long  seen  the 
degradation  of  the  Athenian  character,  and  the  inability  of  the  people 
to  fill  their  former  high  place  among  the  nations,  and  therefore,  both 
in  the  days  of  Philip  and  of  Alexander,  he  had  ever  counselled  such 
measures  as  might  promote  the  tranquillity  of  his  country,  and  permit 
her  to  cultivate  those  ingenious  arts  from  which  her  noblest  trophies 
had  anciently  sprung. 

7.  When  their  momentary  and  misguided  passion  passed  awuy,  the 
Athenians,  as  they  had  too  often  done  before,  remembered  with  borrow 
all  the  virtues  of  Phocion,  and  all  the  benefits  he  had  wrought  for 
them,  and  they  raised  to  him  a  statue  of  brass,  besides  paying  other 
honors  to  his  memory. 

8.  Greece  cannot  be  said  to  have  produced  one  great  man  after 
Phocion,  and  this  deficiency  of  wise  and  able  leaders  was,  doubtless, 
one  chief  cause  of  the  insignificance  into  which  her  republics  gradually 
sunk  after  this  epoch.  Polyperchon,  the  protector  of  Macedon,  was 
superseded  in  the  government  by  Cassander,  Antipater's  son,  who  con- 
firmed his  power  by  the  cruel  murder  of  Roxana  and  her  son  Alexander. 

9.  Cassander  also  put  to  death  Olympias,  mother  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  a  woman  of  a  lofty  spirit,  but  whose  fate  was  regretted  by 
none,  as,  amongst  other  barbarous  acts,  she  had  cut  off  the  helpless 
Aridaeus,  her  husband's  natural  child,  and  one  of  the  nominal  heads 
of  the  great  empire  accumulated  by  her  son. 

10.  By  these  bloody  acts,  not  one  person  claiming  kindred  with  the 
late  ruler  of  the  world  was  left  in  existence  within  fourteen  years  of  his 
decease  at  Babylon.  But  Cassander's  power  was  not  fully  confirmed, 
until,  in  concert  with  Ptolemy,  Seleucus,  and  Lysimachus,  he  gave  his 
help  to  the  overthrow  of  Antigonus  and  other  candidates  for  rule  in  Asia. 

11.  Then  were  established  (301  B.  C.)  the  four  kingdoms  of  Egypt, 
Syria,  Thrace,  (with  Bithynia,)  and  Macedon,  (including  Greece,) 
which  held  the  form  of  independent  states  until  overthrown  by  the 
Romans. 

12.  The  throne  of  Macedon  was  now  filled  by  a  succession  of  petty 
princes,  who  did  little  more  than  resist  the  attacks  of  the  barbarians 
from  the  north,  and  make  occasional  incursions  into  Greece.  The 
kingdom  finally  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  prince  named  Antigonus,  in 
whose  family  it  remained  as  long  as  it  was  an  independent  sovereignty. 

13.  In  the  reign  of  one  of  the  later  kings  of  this  family,  the  repub- 

about?  6.  What  of  the  character  of  Phocion  ?  What  had  he  long  seen  ?  What  measures 
had  he  always  counselled?  7.  How  did  the  Athenians  regard  his  memory  after  his  death? 
8.  What  of  great  men  in  Greece  after  Phocion  ?  Of  what  was  this  doubtless  the  cause  ? 
By  whom  was  Polyperchon  succeeded  ?  How  did  he  confirm  his  power?  9.  The  death 
of  Olympias  ?  Why  was  her  fate  not  regretted?  10.  The  extermination  of  the  kindred 
if  Alexander?  When  was  Cassander's  power  fully  confirmed  ?  11  At  what  date  were 
ihe  four  kingdoms  established  ?  By  whom  were  they  finally  overthrown  ?  12.  By  whom 
was  the  throne  of  Macedon  successively  occupied  ?    13.  What  of  the  republic  of  Achaia  1 


RISE  OF  ROME.  343 

lie  of  Acnaia  began  to  acquire  a  degree  of  importance  that  promised 
almost  to  renew  the  fading-  glories  of  Greece.  This  state,  formerly 
one  of  minor  consequence,  had  become  the  centre  of  a  confederacy, 
called  the  Achaian  or  Achaean  league,  bound  together  by  laws  so 
wise,  liberal,  and  equitable,  as  at  length  to  draw  upon  it  the  attention 
of  the  other  states  of  Greece. 

14.  Through  the  instrumentality  of  Aratus,  an  ardent  lover  of 
liberty  who  had  attained  to  the  high  office  of  general  of  the  Achaean 
states,  Corinth,  Sicyon,  Megara,  Epidaurus,  Argos,  and  finally 
Athens  itself,  joined  this  excellent  association,  the  main  object  ot 
which  was  to  make  the  Greeks  one  united  nation. 

15.  This  was  in  some  measure  the  last  gleam  of  hope  that  dawned 
on  this  long  agitated  land,  but,  unhappily,  the  cheering  ray  was  soon 
clouded.  The  ^Etolians  and  Spartans,  becoming  jealous  of  the  influ- 
ence of  Achaia,  raised  the  flame  of  civil  war  anew,  and  forced  the 
states  of  the  league  to  call  in  Antigonus  of  Macedon  to  their  aid. 

16.  Antigonus  would  grant  assistance  only  on  the  condition  that  he 
should  be  put  in  possession  of  the_city  and  isthmus  of  Corinth,  and 
should  be  nominated  head  of  the  Achaian  league;  demands  which 
were  agreed  to,  and  which  at  once  overthrew  the  liberties  of  the  con- 
federated states.  Antigonus  took  the  field  against  Sparta,  but  the 
war  continued  until  the  accession  of  his  nephew  Philip,  a  young  prince 
of  spirit  and  ability. 

17.  Philip  carried  on  a  destructive  war  with  the  Spartans  and 
^Etolians,  and  was  in  a  fair  way  of  subjecting  all  Greece  by  arms  and 
influence,  when  he  ventured  on  the  fatal  step  of  commencing  hostilities 
against  the  Romans.  This  measure  ultimately  consummated  the  ruin 
of  Greece,  as  well  as  of  Macedon. 


CHAPTER   CXXIT. 

Ronw.  —  Fall  of  Greece. 

1.  Rome,  a  city  founded  by  Romulus  and  his  brother  Remus,  who, 
according  to  the  fable,  were  suckled  in  infancy  by  a  wolf,  had  gradu- 
ally increased  in  magnitude  and  importance,  first  under  the  regal  form 
of  government,  and  afterwards  as  a  republic.  Its  people  were  hardy, 
valiant,  and  endowed  with  a  spirit  of  indomitable  perseverance  that 
made  them  the  first  soldiers  of  the  world. 

2.  One  by  one,  the  cities  and  states  of  Italy  had  succumbed  to  the 
sway  of  the  Romans  ,  and  the  eyes  of  this  people,  whose  mingled 
thirst  of  glory  and  power  knew  no  limits,  were  then  directed  to  objects 
further  from  home.  The  people  of  Carthage,  a  flourishing  commer- 
cial city  and  state  on  the  Mediterranean  coasts  of  Africa,  near  the  site 

14.  "What  states  joined  the  Achaian  league?  Through  whose  instrumental. <.y  ? 
15.  What  did  the  JElolians  and  Spartans  now  do  ?  What  were  the  states  of  the  league 
forced  to  do  ?  16.  Upon  what  condition  would  Antigonus  grant  his  assistance  ?  What 
of  the  war?  17.  How  was  the  war  carried  on  by  Philip?  'What  measure  consummated 
the  ruin  of  Greece  and  Macedon  ? 

CXXII  -  1    Bv  whom  was  Rome  founded  ?    What  of  this  city  ?     ts  people?    2   IV 


344 


PERIOD  IV.  —  401  B.C.  TO   146  B.C. 


of  the  modern  Tunis,  were  the  first  opponents  who  gave  a  severe 
^heck  to  the  grasping  ambition  of  Rome. 


Hamulus  and  JRemus. 


3.  Hannibal,  an  able  and  renowned  Carthaginian  general,  led  his 
countrymen  into  Italy,  worsted  in  succession  many  of  the  most  skilful 
Roman  commanders,  and  seemed  on  the  point  of  destroying  that  power 
forever.  With  Hannibal,  the  King  of  Macedon  leagued  himself 
against  the  Romans,  in  the  hope  of  receiving  afterwards  such  assistance 
from  the  Carthaginians  as  would  ensure  the  success  of  all  his  owa 
views  in  Greece  and  elsewhere. 

4.  As  the  Romans  were  too  intently  engaged  in  opposing  Hannibal, 
to  be  able  at  the  moment  to  revenge  themselves  upon  Macedon  for 
the  aid  sent  by  its  sovereign  to  the  Carthaginians,  they  endeavored  to 
excite  the  iEtolians  and  others  to  harass  Philip  from  Greece.  This 
was  the  first  act  of  interference  on  the  part  of  Rome  with  Grecian 
affairs,  and  the  footing  now  gained  was  never  lost. 

5.  After  their  final  triumph  over  Carthage,  which  they  entirely 
destroyed,  the  Romans  warred  with  Philip  till  the  end  (175  13.  C.)  of 
his  life,  and  continued  the  contest  with  his  son  Perseus,  whom  they 
utterly  defeated,  and  with  whom  ended  the  line  of  the  kings  of  Macedon. 

6.  Perseus  died  in  captivity,  and  his  country  became  a  Roman 
province.  Immediately  afterwards,  upon  the  pretence  that  the 
Achaeans  had  countenanced  the  hostile  conduct  of  Perseus,  one  thou- 
sand of  their  chiefs  were  transported  (163  B.  C.)  to  Italy,  ostensibly 
with  the  purpose  of  bringing  them  to  trial  before  the  Roman  senate, 
but  in  reality  with  the  intent  to  weaken  effectually  that  league,  upon 
the  continuance  of  which  hung  the  hopes  of  all  Greece. 

7.  This  effect  was  gained.  In  the  year  146  B.  C,  Mummius,  a 
Roman  general,  obtained  a  great  victory  at  Corinth,  and  the  once 
Uustrious  and  free  republics  of  Greece  were  converted  into  a  Roman 

province  under  the  name  of  Achaia.  f  &JI*Ar\   ^N 

ambition  of  the  Romans?  By  what  people  were  they  first  chegKed  ?  3.  What  of  Han 
Ribal?  His  success  against  the  Romans  ?  With  whom  did  he  league  himself?  4.  What 
did  the  Romans  endeavor  now  to  do  ?  5.  The  fate  of  Carthage  ?  With  whom  did  the 
Romans  then  war?  6.  What  of  Persons?  What  happened  immediately  after  hi?  death  I 
7.   Was  the  effect  gained  ?    The  fate  of  Greece  ? 


WRITERS  OF  THE  FOURTH  PERIOD.  345 

CHAPTER   CXXIII. 
Writers  of  the  Fourth  Period. 

1.  In  the  latter  days  of  its  independent  existence  Greece  produced 
able  writers  in  every  department  of  literature.  These  writers,  how- 
ever, were  more  frequently  sent  forth  by  the  colonial  settlements  of 
Greece,  than  by  the  parent  land  itself.  This  period  of  Grecian  his- 
tory is  most  remarkable  for  the  brilliancy  with  which  the  light  of  phi- 
losophy shone  out  in  Athens,  notwithstanding  the  progressive  decay 
of  its  political  liberty.^ 

2.  Only  one  dramatist  of  distinguished  eminence  flourished  in  this 
age  of  Grecian  literature.  Menander,  a  comic  poet,  was  born  in 
Athens,  in  the  year  342  B.  C.  He  composed  one  hundred  and  eight 
comedies,  not  one  of  which  has  descended  to  the  present  time.  A  few 
fragments  compose  the  whole  of  his  writings  now  extant. :  which  is 
the  more  to  be  regretted,  as  the  high  praises  bestowed  on  him  by 
contemporaries  show  him  to  have  been  a  dramatist  of  the  first  order." 

3.  Theocritus,  a  pastoral  poet,  was  a  native  of  Syracuse,  and  lived 
about  270  years  B.  C.  These  facts,  as  well  as  the  names  of  his 
parents,  may  be  in  part  learned  from  his  writings.  It  appears  from 
his  sixteenth  Idyllium, —  the  title  given  to  his  short  poems,  —  that 
he  remained  at  Syracuse  for  some  time  after  the  commencement  of 
his  poetic  career.  He  subsequently  resided  at  Alexandria,  where,  at 
the  court  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphia,  he  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
seven  celebrated  men,  called  the  PMtitfes,  or  "  seven  stars." 

4.  As  a  pastoral  poet,  he  stands  at  the  head  of  his  class.  The 
Roman  poet,  Virgil,  was  content  to  call  the  Sicilian  "  master,"  and 
invokes  in  his  pastorals  the  muse  of  Theocritus,  under  the  name  of 
the  Sicilian  or  Syracusan  muse.  In  general,  Virgil  imitates,  and  in 
many  cases  adopts  and  refines,  the  ideas  of  his  predecessor.  In  some 
instances,  according  to  a  custom  of  ancient  writers,  and  which  would 
now  be  held  to  be  literary  piracy,  he  translates  the  very  words  of 
Theocritus,  and  incorporates  them  with  his  own. 

5.  CallrTrTanKus  was  born  at  CyVerie,  in  Africa,  and  obtained  the 
surname  of  Battiades.  from  Battus,  king  and  founder  of  that  city, 
from  whom  he  claimed  his  descent.  The  time  of  his  birth  is  un- 
known ;  but  he  was  one  of  the  seven  contemporary  poets  who  flour- 
ished at  the  court  of  Pfolemy  Philadelphus.  His  works  are  said  to 
have  been  very  voluminous,  consisting  of  elegies,  hymns,  and  epi- 
grams, to  the  amount  of  eight  hundred.  Only  a  few  of  his  short  piece? 
nave  been  preserved. 

6.  A'pollonftrs  was  born  at  Alexandria,  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Phil- 
adelphus.    In  early  youth  he  wrote  the  ArgOnautica,  an  epic,  founded 

CXXIII.  —  1.  What  of  the  literature  of  Greece,  during  the  laler  days  of  its  indepen 
rtence  ?  Philosophy?  2.  Who  was  Menander?  His  writings?  Why  is  the  loss  of"  his 
works  more  to  be  regretted?  3.  Who  was  Theocritus?  Where  did  he  live  for  some 
time?  Where  did  he  afterwards  reside?  What  of  the  court  of  Ptolemy  ?  4.  What  of 
his  rank  as  a  poet  ?     What  of  Virgil  ? 

5.  WhatofCallimachus?     What  of  his  works  ?    6.  What  of  Aprlloni.js  5    What  i»„ 


310  PERIOD  IV.  — 401  H.  C.  It)  146  U.  U. 

on  the  fable  of  the  golden  fleece.  Many  allusions  and  figures  in  the 
Paradise  Lost  prove  that  Milton  thought  this  poem  worthy  of  a  careful 
reading. 

7.  Lycophron  was  originally  of  Chalcis,  in  Eubcea,  but  was  at- 
tracted to  Alexandria  by  the  patronage  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  who 
laised  him  to  a  place  in  the  poetical  constellation.  He  wrote  several 
essays  on  criticism,  and  tragedies  to  the  number  of  twelve,  as  well  as 
many  other  poems,  including  flattering  anagrams  on  the  illustrious 
names  at  the  Egyptian  court.  The  only  poem,  however,  of  this 
author  which  has  escaped  oblivion,  is  his  Cassandra. 

8.  Biori  was  born  at  Smyrna,  and  spent  the  greater  part  of  his 
time  in  Sicily.  Moschus  acknowledges  him  as  his  friend  and  his  pre- 
ceptor in  pastoral  poetry.  His  works  are  a  few  elegant  and  simple 
pastorals,  and  some  fragments.  He  was  a  rich  man,  and  we  learn 
from  one  of  the  Idyllturris  of  Moschus  that  he  died  by  poison  adminis- 
tered by  a  powerful  enemy.  Moschus  was  a  Syracusah,  and  contem- 
porary of  Theocritus,  as  we  learn  from  one  of  his  own  pastorals. 

9.  A  rat  us  was  born  at  Soli,  afterwards  called  Pompeiopolis,  in 
Oilicia.  He  was  the  disciple  of  Dionysius  of  Heraclaea,  and,  like  his 
master,  adopted  the  principles  of  the  Stoic  philosophy.  His  name 
appears  as  one  of  the  Pleiades  of  Alexandria,  and  his  friendship  with 
Theocritus  is  proved  by  the  sixth  and  seventh  Idylliums  of  that  author. 


CHAPTER   CXXIV. 

Historians,  Orators,  tyc,  of  the  Fourth  Period. 

1 .  The  chief  Greek  historian  of  the  era  following  that  of  Socra*es 
»vas  his  disciple,  Xenophon,  who  was  born  at  Athens,  (450  B.  C.) 
Xenophon  lived  to  the  age  of  fifty  in  a  state  of  comparative  obscurity, 
when  he  was  invited  to  Sardis,  the  capital  of  Lydia  in  Lesser  Asia, 
by  a  friend  who  wished  to  introduce  him  to  Cyrus,  the  brother  of 
Artaxerxes,  King  of  Persia. 

2.  Xenophon  was  persuaded  to  go  thither,  and  the  result  was,  that 
he  joined  the  Grecian  auxiliaries,  by  whose  help  Cyrus  hoped  to  gain 
his  brother's  crown.  The  expedition,  as  the  historical  portion  of  his 
work  narrates  at  length,  was  unfortunate,  and  was  followed  by  the 
famous  Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand.  Xenophon  was  the  commander 
of  the  retreating  Greeks  on  this  occasion,  and  afterwards  he  became 
their  historian. 

3.  Being  proscribed  by  the  Athenians,  he  was  provided  by  Agesi- 
!aus,  King  of  Sparta,  with  a  safe  retreat  at  Elea.  Here,  in  a  most 
agreeable  country  seat,  he  spent  many  years  with  his  family,  and 
composed  the  greater  number  of  the  historical  and  philosophical  works 

Milton  think  of  his  chief  poem?    7.  What  of  Lycophron  ?     His  works?    8.   What  of 
Bior  ?     His  works  ?     His  death  ?     What  of  Moschus  ?     9.   What  of  Aratus  ? 

CXXIV.  —  1.  Who  was  the  chief  historian  of  the  fourth  period  ?  What  of  Xenophon  ' 
2    What  army  did  he  join?     What  of  the  famous  vetrcat?    3.   What  did  Agesilaus  do 


HISTORIANS.  ORATORS.  &c,  OF  THE  FOURTH  PERIOD.  34-7 

that  have  rendered  his  name  famous.  In  consequence,  however,  of  a 
war  breaking  out  between  the  Spartans  and  Elearts,  Xenophon  was 
compelled  to  fly  from  this  elegant  retirement  to  Corinth,  where  he 
died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety. 


4.  His  principal  writings  are  his  Memoirs  of  Socrates;  Continua- 
tion of  T'hucyxfuW  Grecian  History  ;  Expedition  of  Cyrus  ;  Institu- 
tions of  the  elder  Cyrus ;  Treatises  on  Economics,  Tyranny,  Taxes, 
Hunting,  and  other  subjects ;  besides  his  View  of  the  Spartan  and 
Athenian  Republics,  and  one  or  two  other  works  of  interest.  As 
a  philosopher,  Xenophon  was  one  of  the  most  worthy  pupils  of  Soc- 
rates. 

5.  For  some  time  after  the  death  of  Xenophon,  no  regular  historian 
sprang  up  in  Greece  to  take  up  the  chain  of  events  at  the  point  where 
he  had  left  off.  Nevertheless,  the  deficiency  was  in  a  great  measure 
supplied  by  the  various  oratorical  compositions  of  the  age  of  Philip 
and  Alexander. 

6.  The  career  of  Demosthenes,  the  most  eminent  of  the  Athenian 
orators,  forms  a  part  of  the  history  of  his  country,  and,  as  such,  has 
already  been  detailed.  His  discourses,  however,  merit  here  more 
particular  attention  than  could  be  given  to  them  elsewhere. 

7.  On  being  himself  asked  what  were  the  qualities  that  constituted 
effective  speaking,  Demosthenes  is  said  to  have  answered,  that  there 
were  three  things  required ;  and  in  further  explanation,  said  that 
these  were  "action — action — action."  This  forcible  exposition  of 
his  ideas  of  eloquence  leads  us  to  anticipate  the  characteristics  of  his 
own  oratorical  s  yle 

8.  Accordingly,  we  find  that  vehemence  of  delivery  was  the  main 
feature  of  Demosthenes'  manner  of  speaking.  Yet,  had  not  an  equal 
power  of  forcible  expression  been  conjoined  in  him  with  the  power  of 

for  him  ?  What  did  ne  do  at  Elea?  Why  was  he  compelled  to  fly?  4.  What  are  his 
principal  writings?  5.  How  was  the  want  of  historians  supplied  in  Greece  ?  G.  What 
wt'the  career  of  Demosthenes  ?    7.  V\  hat  did  h-3  think  constituted  ettective  sreafciw  i 


348 


PERIOD   IV.  — 404  B.  C.  TO   146   B.  C. 


animated  action  he  would  not  have  been,  what  lie  has  always  t**M 
acknowledged  to  be,  the  first  of  orators. 

9.  Those  orations  which,  from  being-  directed  against  Philip,  wort' 
called  the  Philippics,  are  generally  pointed  to  as  the  most  powerful 
specimens  of  Demosthenes'  oratory.  Various  others  are  extant,  of 
scarcely  inferior  eloquence,  and  amongst  these  may  be  particularly 
mentioned  the  orations  for  the  Olynthians,  and  the  orator's  defence  ol 
himself  against  ^Eschines.  All  of  these  discourses  form  valuable 
additions  to  the  historical  records  of  the  periods  in  which  tbey  were 
pionounced. 


Demosthenes. 

10.  The  compositions  of  Isocrates,  (born  436  B.  C.,)  one  of  the 
most  illustrious  contemporaries  of  Demosthenes,  may  also  be  referred 
to  here,  as  having  largely  contributed  to  the  same  object.  Isocrates 
was  usually  termed  an  orator,  but  his  discourses  came  before  his 
countrymen  almost  always  in  a  written  form,  as  the  weakness  of  his 
frame  and  voice  rendered  him  incapable  of  the  exertion  of  delivering 
them  before  a  public  assembly. 

11.  Isocrates  was,  nevertheless,  admirably  acquainted  with  the 
principles  of  oratory,  and  taught  them,  for  a  long  period,  with  the 
most  distinguished  success,  to  the  noblest  youths  of  Athens  and 
Greece.  His  discourses  are  of  a  very  high  order  of  composition,  and 
in  them  he  addressed  himself  sometimes  to  moral,  and  sometimes  to 
political  subjects. 

12.  In  his  effusions  of  the  latter  character,  he  regularly  advocated 
the  cause  of  peace  with  Philip,  in  opposition  to  the  counsels  of  Demos 
thenes;  and  although  the  eloquence  of  his  adversary  was  at  times 


8.  What  was  the  main  feature  of  his  manner  of  speaking?    9.  What  orations  are  consid- 
ered the  most  powerful  specimens  of  hi-3  oratory  ?    What  others  may  be  mentioned  ? 

10.  What  of  Isocrates?     His  compositions?     11.  With  what  was  he  acquainted? 
What  of  his  discourses ?     12.  What  did  he  always  advocate?     How  was  he  always  re 


HISTORIANS,  ORATORS,  &c  '  OF  THE  FOURTH  PERIOD.         «J  19 

irresistible,  Isocrates  never  failed  to  gain  the  respectful  attention  and 
applause  of  his  fellow-citizens.  Several  of  the  orations  of  Isocrates 
are  extant,  one  of  the  most  admired  of  them  being  an  address  to 
Philip  of  Macedon  himself. 

13.  Polybius  is  the  next  regular  Grecian  historian  of  note,  in  suc- 
cession after  Xenophon.  Megalopolis,  an  Arcadian  city,  was  the 
place  of  his  birth,  which  took  place  205  B.  C.  Having  lived  in  Rome, 
and  being  acquainted  with  the  prominent  men  of  his  time,  his  history 
has  a  comprehensive  range,  and  is  rendered  a  work  of  extreme  value, 
by  the  admirable  accuracy  and  impartiality  of  the  narrator. 

14.  Being  himself  thoroughly  versed  in  war  and  politics,  he  has 
given  such  a  view  of  the  campaigns  of  Hannibal  and  others,  as  has 
caused  his  history  to  be  the  delight  of  military  commanders  in  all 
succeeding  times.  His  style  wants  the  charm  of  eloquence,  but  it  is 
clear,  simple,  and  well  sustained.  Polybius  lived  to  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-two  years.  His  countrymen  of  Arcadia  erected  statues 
to  his  memory  in  all  their  chief  cities. 

15.  We  shall  now  notice  several  writers  who  flourished  after  the 
conquest  of  Greece  by  the  Romans,  but  they  properly  belong  to  the 
age  of  which  we  are  treating. 

16.  DibdorQs  Siculus,  another  of  the  later  Grecian  historians,  was 
not  a  native  of  Greece  itself,  but  a  descendant  of  the  Hellenic  col- 
onists of  Sicily,  in  which  island  he  was  born  about  half  a  century 
before  the  era  of  Christ.  In  his  youth  he  left  his  native  city  of  Agyr- 
ium,  and  began  his  travels,  which  did  not  terminate  till  he  had  visited 
the  larger  portion  of  Asia  and  Europe. 

17.  In  these  journeys  he  collected  the  materials  for  a  historical 
work,  the  composition  of  which  occupied  him  for  a  period  of  thirty 
years,  and  which  he  called  his  Bibliotheca  HistOrica.  This  universal 
history,  for  such  it  was,  consisted  of  forty  books,  only  fifteen  of  which 
now  exist,  namely,  the  first  five  and  the  second  ten. 

18.  The  annals  of  Diodorus  form  the  chief  existing  authority  upon 
the  subject  of  Egyptian  and  Chaldean  antiquities,  and  they  are,  there- 
fore, exceedingly  curious  arM  valuable.  He  was  a  writer  of  much 
merit,  though  neither  so  elegantly  perspicuous  as  Xenophon,  nor  so 
scrupulously  accurate  as  Polybius.  Living  at  Rome  in  the  time  of 
Julius  and  Augustus  Caesar,  when  the  Greek  tongue  had  lost  some- 
thing of  its  early  purity,  this  historian  cannot  compete  with  his  prede- 
cessors in  beauty  of  diction  and  style  ;  yet  the  language  of  Diodorus 
falls  not  very  far  short  of  the  best  standards  of  old. 

19.  Contemporary  with  the  preceding  writer,  lived  the  historian 
Dionysius  HalfcaTnasseus,  so  named  from  being  a  native  of  Halicar- 
nassus,  one  of  the  Greek  cities  on  the  coast  of  Lesset  Asia.  He  came 
to  Rome  about  the  time  when  Augustus  founded  the  empire  of  the 
Caesars.     After  a  twenty-two   years'  residence   in  the   great  city, 


garded  by  the  citizens  ?  What  is  the  most  admired  of  his  orations?  13.  What  of  Po 
ly  hius  ?  What  of  his  histories  ?  14.  His  account  of  the  campaigns  of  Hannibal '/  Whai 
of  his  style  ?     At  what  age  did  he  die  ? 

16.    What  of  Diodorus  Siculus?    His  early  life?     17.  What  did  he  collect  in  these 
journeys?     What  part  of  his  history  is  new  extant?     18.  Of  what  authority  are  his 
annals?    What  of  his  merit   as  a  writer?    His  language?     19.  What  of  Dionysin* 
30 


360 


PERIOD   IV   -404   B.  C.  TO   146  B.  C. 


Dionysius  composed  a  history  of  the  Roman  power,  for  which  he  hod 
long  diligently  prepared  himself  and  collected  many  materials.  The 
last  nine  books  of  this  work  have  been  lost,  leaving  only  the  first 
eleven  now  extant  out  of  the  original  twenty. 

20.  In  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era,  during  the  reign 
of  the  emperors  Adrian  and  Antonine",  flourished  Arrian  of  NTcoYneclia^ 
a  city  of  Ijithyjija,  in  Lesser  Asia.  Arrian  seems  early  to  have  come 
to  Rome,  and  to  have  studied  under  a  noted  philosopher,  named  "Epjc- 

"Tetus,  whose  opinions  he  afterwards  gave  to  the  world  in  two  tfeatTses, 
which  have  ever  been  regarded  as  among  the  finest  expositions  ol 
ancient  morality. 

21.  Appian,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  chief  families  of  Alexandria, 
in  Egypt,  came  to  Rome  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Trajan,  or  about 
the  beginning  of  the  second  century  A.  C.  Appian  began  to  practise 
the  law  in  the  Roman  courts,  and  attained  to  such  distinction  as  a 
pleader,  that  he  was  made  one  of  the  imperial  procurators,  and,  under 
Adrian  and  Antonine,  Trajan's  successors,  was  advanced  to  the 
dignity  of  a  provincial  governor. 

22.  He  wrote  a  regular  history  of  Rome,  from  the  siege  of  Troy 
to  the  times  of  the  empire,  besides  various  separate  and  extended 
accounts  of  particular  wars,  civil  and  foreign,  which  signalized  th6 
annals  of  the  Roman  people.  Some  of  these  fragmentary  composi- 
tions are  all  that  now  remain  of  his  works 


Plutarch. 


23  Contemporaneously  with  the  preceding  historian,  lived  one  of 
much  greater  merit,  the  able  and  illustrious  Plutarch.  He  was  born 
at  Chaeronea,  a  small  city  of  Bceotia  in  Greece.  The  family  of  Plu- 
tarch was  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  respectable  in  his  native  place, 
and  all  its  members  were  attached  to  the  pursuits  of  philosophy. 

Halicarnaeseus ?  What  history  did  he  compose?  20.  What  cf  Arrian?  21.  Appian? 
His  success  as  a  pleader?  22.  What  history  did  he  write?  What  of  his  composition* 
now  remain  ? 


HISTORIANS,  ORATORS,  &c,  OF  THE  FOURTH  PERIOD.  1351 

24.  Plutarch's  tastes  were  early  bent  in  the  same  direction,  and  he 
had  the  advantage  of  an  excellent  education  under  an  Egyptian  named 
Ammonius,  who  had  formed  a  famous  school  at  Athens.  The  young 
Chaeronean  afterwards  travelled  to  Egypt,  a  country  ever  full  of  attrac- 
tion for  inquisitive  minds.  On  his  return,  he  journeyed  through  all 
the  leading  cities  of  Greece,  and  finally  went  to  Rome. 

25.  After  a  residence  here  of  about  forty  years,  he  finally  retired 
to  his  native  city,  to  spend  there  the  closing  period  of  his  life.  He 
completed,  in  his  retirement,  the  work  upon  which  his  fame  is 
founded  —  his  Lives  of  the  Illustrious  Captains  and  Statesmen  of 
Greece  and  Rome. 

26.  These  lives  constitute  one  of  the  most  charming  productions 
which  antiquity  has  sent  down  to  us.  To  this  hour  the  work  is  held 
as  a  model  ef  biographical  composition,  and  well  deserves  to  be  so, 
from  the  impartial,  nervous,  manly,  and  unaffected  style  in  which  it  is 
executed.  Plutarch's  morals  and  piety,  also,  merit  as  much  com- 
mendation as  those  of  any  heathen  writer.  Upon  the  whole,  though 
defective  in  morals,  the  lives  have  perhaps  been  more  instrumental  in 
inciting  youth  to  virtuous  and  lofty  actions,  than  any  other  production 
of  Greece  or  Rome. 

27.  Several  of  Plutarch's  other  works  have  been  lost,  but  we  have 
still  some  small  treatises — as,  for  example,  his  Symposiacs  or  Table 
Conversations,  and  his  Morals  —  which  maintain  his  reputation  for 
ability  and  piety.  He  was  honored  with  the  office  of  chief  magistrate 
by  the  Chaeroneans,  and  died,  at  a  ripe  old  age,  amongst  his  country- 
men and  friends. 

28.  Herodian  is  a  historian  deservedly  held  in  high  esteem.  The 
time  in  which  he  flourished  may  be  gathered  with  sufficient  accuracy 
from  his  history,  which  depicts  the  events  of  the  Roman  empire,  from 
the  reign  of  Marcus  Antoninus,  (who  died  180  A.  C.,)  to  the  accession 
of  Gordion,  a  period  of  about  seventy  years.  The  historian  of  this 
period  witnessed  in  person  the  chief  occurrences  which  signalized  it, 
having  the  best  opportunities  for  accurate  observation,  from  his  being 
ong  attached  to  the  court  of  the  emperors. 

29.  The  history  of  Herodian  is  in  eight  books,  and  includes  the 
reigns  of  more  than  twelve  emperors,  the  soldiery  having  gained  at 
that  time  such  ascendency  as  to  overturn  the  throne  whenever  they 
pleased.  Our  most  authentic  knowledge  of  this  stirring  era  is  derived 
from  Herodian,  who  wrote  in  a  style  full  of  dignity  and  sweetness, 
and  whose  comments  upon  the  events  he  records  are  pertinent  and 
instructive.     No  other  productions  of  his  are  now  extant. 

23.  Who  was  Plutarch?  His  family  ?  24.  His  early  tastes  and  education  ?  Where 
Jid  he  afterwards  travel?  25.  To  what  city  did  he  finally  retire?  What  work  did  he 
iomplete  here?  26.  What  of  these  lives?  27.  What  of  Plutarch's  other  works?  23. 
What  of  Herodian?  What  event  does  his  history  depict?  Did  hf.  himself  witness  the 
•ccurrence  that  he  describes?    29.   What  ioes  his  history  incude  ?    His  style? 


352  PERIOD  IV.  — 404  B.  C.  TO  146  B.  C 

CHAPTER   CXXV. 

Philosophers,  Sophists,  and  Artists  of  the  Fourth  Period. 

1.  The  chief  philosophers  of  this  epoch  are  those  who  originated 
the  six  schools  or  sects,  respectively  called  the  Academic,  the  Peripa- 
tetic, the  Cynic,  the  Stoic,  the  Epicurean,  and  that  of  the  Sceptics. 
The  founder  of  the  first  of  these,  the  Academic  sect,  was  Plato,  the 
most  illustrious  of  all  the  disciples  of  Socrates.  He  was  hy  descent 
an  Athenian,  but  was  born  in  the  island  of  iEgina,  C430  B.  C.) 

2.  When  very  young  he  gave  the  most  wanted  indications  of 
genius,  devoting  himself  to  the  cultivation,  chiefly,  of  poetry  and  the 
fine  arts.  Before  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty  he  had  composed  epic 
and  dramatic  poems  of  considerable  length,  which  he  threw  into  the 
flames  on  hearing  a  discourse  from  the  lips  of  Socrates. 

3.  From  that  moment,  Plato  resolved  to  dedicate  his  attention 
wholly  to  the  study  of  philosophy,  and  for  eight  successive  years  he 
continued  in  attendance  upon  the  lectures  of  Socrates.  When  that 
wise  and  good  man  fell  a  victim  to  persecution,  Plato  was  beside  him 
in  his  latter  days,  and  afterwards  embodied  in  the  dialogue  entitled 
Phaedo  those  fine  thoughts  on  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul,  which  the 
martyred  philosopher  poured  forth  almost  in  the  hour  of  death. 

4.  Plato  retired  after  his  master's  decease  from  Athens  to  Megara, 
then  travelled  into  Italy,  Egypt,  and  other  countries,  imbuing  his  mind 
with  the  philosophic  treasures  to  be  found  in  each,  and  finally  returned 
to  Athens,  to  open  a  new  school  for  the  instruction  of  youth. 

5.  The  spot  which  he  chose  for  this  purpose  was  a  grove  which 
had  been  the  property  of  a  citizen  named  Academus,  from  whom  it 
was  ever  after  called  the  Academy.  Plato's  genius  and  learning 
speedily  attracted  to  his  school  crowds  of  the  most  distinguished 
youths  of  Greece,  and  even  females  frequently  attended  his  lectures  in 
disguise. 

6.  The  fame  of  his  wisdom  spread  so  widely,  that  various  kings  and 
communities  solicited  his  assistance  in  improving  the  political  consti- 
tution of  their  governments.  Dionysius,  king  or"  tyrant  of  Sicily,  was 
successful  in  inducing  Plato  more  than  once  to  visit  Syracuse,  his 
capital,  but  the  monarch's  character  was  too  mean  and  vicious  to 
enable  him  to  appreciate  or  to  profit  by  the  philosopher's  instructions. 
Indeed,  the  latter  was  obliged  to  fly  from  the  court  of  Dionysius  to  save 
his  life. 

7.  Plato  continued,  with  few  intervals,  to  teach  in  Athens  till  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  seventy-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

CXXV.  —  1.  What  six. sects  of  philosophers  existed  in  the  fourth  period?  Who  founded 
he  Academic  sect?  What  of  Plato's  birth?  2.  What  of  his  youth?  What  had  he 
done  before  he  was  twenty?  3.  What  did  he  afterwards  resolve  to  do?  What  of 
Socrates?  4.  Where  did  Plato  go  after  the  death  of  Socrates?  Where  did  he  afterwards 
travel?  What  did  he  do  in  Athens?  5.  What  of  the  grove  of  Academus?  The  reputa- 
tion of  Plato  ?  6.  For  what  purpose  did  kings  solicit  his  assistance  ?  What  of  Diony siua 
of  Sicily  ?   7.  Plato's  Jeath  ?    His  personal  character  ?   8.  Of  what  do  the  writings  of  Plate 


PHILOSOPHERS,  kc,  OF  THE  FOURTH  PERIOD. 


353 


The  personal  character  of  this  great  man  seems  to  have    been  noi 
unworthy  of  the  genius  lie  displayed  in  his  writings. 

8.  The  writings  of  Plato,  embodying  the  opinions  called  the  Pla- 
tonic philosophy,  consist  of  thirty-five  dialogues  and  thirteen  epistles. 
These  works  embrace  such  a  vast  variety  of  subjects,  ethical,  physical, 
logical,  and  political,  that  it  is  impossible,  in  a  limited  compass,  to  give 
pny  connected  view  of  them  as  a  whole.  Like  many  of  the  ancients, 
Plato  conceives  two  principles,  God  and  Matte?',  to  have  eternally  co- 
existed in  the  universe.  He  views  the  Deity  as  an  Intelligent  Cause, 
the  origin  of  all  spiritual  being,  and  the  framer  of  the  material  world. 

9.  Many  beautiful  truths  are  to  be  found  diffused  through  his  writ- 
ings, but  a  fanciful  spirit  of  theory  pervades  the  whole.  His  genius 
shone  so  brilliantly  through  all  his  writings,  that  no  philosopher  «' 
antiquity  had  the  honor  of  attracting  so  many  followers. 


Aristotle 

10  Aristotle,  the  founder  of  the  Peripatetic  sect,  (born  384  B.  C.,) 
as  a  native  of  Stagira,«a  town  of  Thrace,  from  which  he  has  often 
fteen  called  the  Stagirite.  He  was  early  initiated  in  the  elements  of 
knowledge,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  went  to  Athens,  where  he  be- 
gan to  study  under  Plato.  That  philosopher  soon  discerned  the  power- 
ful talents  of  his  pupil,  and  used  to  call  him  the  Mind  of  the  School. 

11.  He  went  to  Macedon  to  enter  upon  the  education  of  Alexander, 
according  to  a  promise  made,  at  the  birth  of  that  prince,  to  his  father, 
King  Philip.  Alexander  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age  when  A  ris- 
totle  became  (343  B.  C.)  his  tutor.  Their  connection  continued  foi 
eight  years,  during  which  time  the  teacher  won  the  esteem  of  hit 
pupil  so  thoroughly,  that  the  latter  used  to  say,  "  Philip  had  given  him 
life,  but  Aristotle  had  taught  him  to  live  well." 


consist?  The  subjects  of  these  writings?  In  what  did  Plato  believe?  9.  What  spirit 
pervades  the  whole  of  his  writings'  His  genius  ?  10.  Where  was  Aristotle  born?  What 
if  his  early  life ?     11.   Where  did  ae  afterwards  go?    How  did  Alexander  regard  him  i 

23 


351  PERIOD   IV.-  404   B.  C.  TO   146  B.  ft 

19.  When  Alexander  came  to  the  throne,  and  entered  on  his  career 
of  conquest,  Aristotle  returned  to  Athens,  and  opened  a  school  in  the 
grove  called  the  Lyceum.  From  his  practice  of  walking  here,  when 
discoursing  to  his  pupils,  his  followers  were  called  Peripatetics,  oi 
walkers. 

13.  But  Aristotle  continued  to  correspond  with  his  royal  pupil ;  and 
Alexander,  at  the  request  of  his  teacher,  employed  several  thousand 
persons,  in  Asia  and  Europe,  to  collect  specimens  of  the  animal  king- 
dom, and  sent  them  to  Aristotle,  who  was  thus  enabled  to  write  a 
history  of  animated  nature.  Only  ten  out  of  fifty  volumes  of  this  work 
are  now  extant. 

14.  He  wrote  upon  a  great  variety  of  subjects,  and  the  most  acute 
minds  of  after  ages  have  not  hesitated  to  follow  many  of  his  views 
His  History  of  Animated  Nature  has  been  much  admired  for  the  accu 
racy  of  the  descriptions  contained  in  it.  His  other  works,  generally 
speaking,  are  remarkable  for  the  extraordinary  acuteness  of  intellect 
displayed  in  them. 

15.  The  founder  of  the  Cynical  sect  of  philosophy  was  Antisthenes 
an  Athenian,  (born  420  B.  C.)  This  person  became  a  disciple  of 
Socrates,  and  distinguished  himself  by  severity  of  manners  extraordi- 
nary even  among  the  pupils  of  that  simple  and  unassuming  teacher. 
Socrates  did  not  approve  of  the  raggedness  which  Antisthenes  loved 
to  exhibit  in  his  dress.  "  Why  so  ostentatious?"  said  the  master; 
"  through  your  rags  I  see  your  vanity." 

16.  Diojjenes  became  even  more  celebrated  than  his  master,  Antis- 
thenes. He  was  born  at  Pontus,  (418  B.  C.)  He  went  in  rags, 
begged  for  bread  that  he  might  be  insulted,  and  sat  in  the  eaves  of  the 
houses  under  the  rain.  He  would  embrace  snow  statues  in  winter, 
and  lived,  it  is  generally  told,  in  a  tub.  All  this  was  done — to  report 
it  in  its  best  light  —  with  the  view  of  inuring  himself  to  bear  all  ex- 
tremes of  fortune,  and  in  order  to  counteract  the  advance  of  luxury  by 
his  example. 

17.  Diogenes  was  rude  and  unsparing  in  his  speech.  Sarcasm  was 
his  mode  of  teaching  mankind,  if,  indeed,  he  could  be  called  a  moral 
teacher.  It  is  certain  that  there  is  a  noble  meaning  in  some  of  his 
sayings,  which  constitute  the  best  exposition  we  have  of  the  Cynical 
philosophy.  A  profligate  person  having  written  over  the  door  of  his 
house,  Let  nothing  evil  enter  here ;  "  Which  way,  then,"  said  Dioge- 
nes, *  must  the  master  go  in!" 

18.  Observing  a  young  man  blush,  "  Take  courage,  friend,"  said 
he  ;  "  that  is  the  color  of  virtue."  In  reply  to  one  who  asked  him  at 
what  time  he  o>  ght  to  dine,  he  said,  "  If  you  are  a  rich  man,  when 
you  will ;  if  yoa  are  poor,  when  you  can."  "  How  happy,"  said 
some  one,  "  is  Calisthenes  in  living  with  Alexander."  "  No,"  said 
Diogenes ;  "  1)3  is  not  happy  ;  for  he  must  dine  and  sup  when  Alex- 
ander pleases." 


12.  Where  did  Aristotle  go  when  Alexander  came  to  the  throne?  What  were  his 
followers  called?  13.  Did  intercourse  between  him  and  Alexander  still  continue?  Whal 
of  the  history  of  Animated  Nature?  14.  What  of  the  subjects  treated  of  by  Aristotle? 
What  ot  his  works  in  general?  15.  Who  was  Antiatlvnes?  What  anecdote  is  told 
»f  him?     16    Who  was  Diogenes  ?     What  were  some  of  his  pa  Hilarities?    17.  W:wl 


PHILOSOPHERS,   &c..   OF  THE  FOURTH   PERIOD. 


3»d 


19.  Hearing  one  complain  that  lie  should  not  die  in  his  native  conn 
try,  he  said,  "Be  not  uneasy;  from  every  place  there  is  a  passage  in 
the  regions  below."  Being  presented  at  a  feast  with  a  large  goblet 
of  wine,  he  threw  it  upon  the  ground.  When  blamed  for  wasting  so 
much  good  liquor,  he  answered,  "  Had  I  drunk  it,  there  would  have 
been  double  waste ;  I  as  well  as  the  wine  would  have  been  lost." 

20.  Being  interrogated  what  benefit  he  reaped  from  his  laborious 
philosophical  researches,  and  his  pursuit,  of  wisdom  —  "  If  I  reap  no 
other  benefit,"  said  he,  "  this  alone  is  a  sufficient  compensation,  that  1 
am  prepared  with  equanimity  to  meet  every  sort  of  fortune."  Having 
been  captured  by  pirates  at  sea,  and  sold  to  a  citizen  at  Corinth, 
Diogenes  spent  a  considerable  part  of  his  life  in  that  city.  He  became 
the  instructor  of  his  raster's  children,  and  also  took  on  himself  the 
office  of  a  censor  of  the  public  morals. 


21     He  was  visited  here  by  Alexander  the  Great,  who  found  him, 
at  the  age  of  eighty,  sitting  in  his  tub.    "  Can  I  do  anything  for  you  ?" 

bis  conversation  ?    18,19,20.  What  are  some  of  the  sayings  ascribed  to  him?   21.  What 


356  PERIOD   IV.— 404   B    C.  TO   146  B.  C. 

said  Alexander.  ;<  Yes,"  was  the  reply,  *  you  can  remove  from  V** 
tween  me  and  the  sun."  The  reply  pleased  the  king  so  much,  thjt 
he  said,  "  Were  ]  not  Alexander,  I  would  be  Diogenes!" 

22.  Diogenes  had  not  on  all  occasions  the  advantage  in  sharp 
speaking.  Some  one,  seeing  him  embrace  a  statue  covered  with 
snow,  inquired  if  he  did  not  suffer  from  the  cold.  "  No,"  said  the 
philosopher.  "  Why,  then,"  said  the  stranger,  "  I  can  see  no  great 
merit  in  what  you  are  now  doing." 

23.  In  the  presence  of  some  distinguished  strangers  from  the  court 
of  Dionysius,  Diogenes  put  his  foot  upon  the  robe  of  Plato.  "  Thus 
I  trample  upon  the  pride  of  Plato,"  said  the  Cynic.  "  And  with 
greater  pride  of  your  own,"  justly  replied  the  other  sage.  Plato  used 
(o  call  Diogenes  a  mad  Socrates,  in  allusion  to  the  mixture  of  wisdom 
and  extravagance  which  constituted  his  character. 

24.  The  sect  of  the  Stoics  greatly  resembled  that  of  the  Cynics, 
with  this  difference,  that  the  former  abstained  from  carrying  their  self- 
denial  to  the  same  extreme  lengths  in  point  of  dress  and  habits.  At 
the  same  time,  while  the  Stoics  copied  the  austerity  of  the  Cynical 
morals,  they  endeavored  to  introduce  principles  of  a  novel  order  into 
speculative  philosophy. 

25.  The  founder  of  the  Stoic  school  was  a  native  of  the  island  of 
Cyprus,  by  name  Zeno,  who  was  born  3G2  B.  C,  or  about  the  com- 
mencement of  Philip  of  Macedon's  reign.  His  father,  a  Cyprian  mer- 
chant, sent  Zeno,  when  about  thirty  years  old,  to  Athens  with  a  cargo 
of  Phoenician  purple,  which  was  lost  by  shipwreck  on  the  coast  of  the 
Piraeus.  Zeno  got  to  Athens  with  safety,  however,  and,  having 
already  received  an  excellent  education,  continued  his  studies,  and  at 
last  determined  to  open  a  school  of  philosophy. 

26.  He  chose,  for  the  scene  of  his  prelections,  a  public  porch  or 
portico,  called  the  Stoa,  and  hence  the  word  Stoic,  as  applied  to  his 
followers.  Occasionally,  also,  they  were  called  the  Philosophers  of 
the  Porch.  Here  he  taught  for  a  long  period  with  much  success, 
exhibiting  in  his  own  life  a  perfect  example  of  the  severe  morality  he 
inculcated  on  others.  He  was  frugal  in  his  diet  and  all  his  expenses, 
grave  and  dignified  in  his  manners  ;  and  his  attire,  though  scrupulously 
neat,  was  always  plain. 

27.  He  died  by  his  own  hands  at  the  age  of  ninety-eight.  His 
suicide  arose  from  his  having  fallen  and  broken  one  of  his  fingers,  a 
circumstance  which  seemed  to  him  a  hint  that  he  was  no  more  fit  for 
earth.  "  Why  am  I  thus  importuned?"  said  he  ;  iS  I  obey  the  sum- 
mons;" and  on  reaching  home, 
superstition,  he  strangled  himself. 

28.  The  Stoical  philosophy,  invented  by  Zeno,  teaches  that  there 
are  two  principles  in  nature,  by  which,  and  out  of  which,  all  things 
have  been  formed.  The  one  of*  these  principles  is  active,  being  com- 
posed of  pure  ether  or  spirit,  inhabiting  the  surface  of  the  heavens, 

of  Alexander's  visit  to  him?  22,23.  What  instances  are  mentioned  to  show  thar 
Diogenes  did  not  always  have  the  advantage  in  conversation  ?  24.  What  of  t  he  sect  of 
the  Stoics?  25.  Who  formed  the  sect  ?  What  of  Zeno?  Mis  educaiion?  What  did  he 
determine  to  do  at  Athens  ?  26.  What  was  the  Stoa  7  His  success  in  teaching  ?  Wl  at 
*f  his  diet   manners,  and  attire?    27.   What  of  his  death ?    28    What  does  the  Stoica. 


PHILOSOPHERS,  &c.    OF  THE  FOURTH  PERIOD.  357 

ano  heir.g,  in  short,  the  creative  spirit  of  the  universe,  or  God.  The 
passive  principle  is  matter,  which  is  in  itself  destitute  of  all  qualities, 
hut  it  is  capable  of  receiving  any  impression,  or  being  moulded  into 
anj*  form. 

29.  Epicurus,  the  founder  of  a  famous  school  of  philosjphy  known 
by  his  name,  was  born  (344  B.  C.)  at  Gargetus,  a  small  town  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Athens.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  went  to  study 
at  Athens,  and  continued  there  for  a  considerable  period.  He  subse- 
quently left  it  to  reside  successively  at  Mitylene  and  Lampsacus,  in 
both  of  which  cities  he  opened  a  school  for  the  instruction  of  others  in 
the  philosophical  doctrines  which  he  was  gradually  maturing  in  his 
own  mind. 

30.  He  was  not  long  contented,  however,  with  a  provincial  reputa- 
tion. In  his  thirty-eighth  year  he  returned  to  the  Athenian  capital, 
purchased  a  garden,  and  there  began  to  teach  his  system  of  philosophy, 
which  was  hence  frequently  called  the  Philosophy  of  the  Garden.  His 
opinions  speedily  became  extremely  popular,  partly,  no  doubt,  because 

hey  were  of  a  nature  to  contrast  most  agreeably  with  the  then  preva- 
ent  doctfines  of  the  Cynics  and  Stoics. 

31.  But  the  system  of  Epicurus,  though  comparatively  mild  in  its 
character,  was  afterwards  unfairly  represented  as  countenancing  sen- 
sual indulgence  of  every  kind.  His  doctrines  give  no  color  to  this 
common  belief,  which  his  name  has  been  abused  to  perpetuate.  His 
life,  also,  gave  the  lie  to  the  charge.  He  was  noted  for  temperance 
and  continence,  and  inculcated  upon  his  disciples  the  necessity  of 
restraining  all  the  passions,  if  they  would  lead  a  happy  life. 

32.  Pyrrho,  a  native  of  Elea,  (born  340  B.  C.,)  was  the  founder  of 
the  sect  of  the  Sceptics,  so  called  because  their  only  settled  opinion 
was,  that  everything  is  uncertain.  It  was  said  of  him  that  he  carried 
his  dubitation  so  far,  as  to  render  it  necessary  for  his  friends  to 
attend  him  closely  in  his  walks,  lest  he  should  doubt  the  existence  of 
a  precipice  or  an  approaching  carriage,  and  so  end  all  mortal  doubts 
at  once. 

33.  Pyrrho's  life,  like  that  of  many  of  the  Grecian  sages,  of  whose 
temperate  habits  the  circumstance  is  no  weak  proof,  was  extended 
much  beyond  the  common  term.  He  reached  the  age  of  ninety,  and 
was  honored  with  a  monumental  statue  by  the  people  of  Athens,  as 
well  as  by  the  Eleans.  Both  among  his  countrymen  and  throughout 
the  other  states  of  Greece,  Pyrrho  had  many  pupils,  who  at  first  called 
themselves  the  Pyrrhonic  School,  but  were  finally  named  Sceptics. 

34.  The  arts  of  painting  and  sculpture  did  not  decline  in  this  age 
from  the  excellence  to  which  they  had  been  previously  brought  by 
Parrhasius,  Phidias,  and  others.  Among  those  who  distinguished 
themselves  as  painters,  Zeuxis,  Timanthes,  Pamphilus,  Nicias,  Apel- 
les,  and  Eupompus,  stand  in  the  first  rank. 

philosophy  teach  ?  29  What  of  Epicurus?  His  early  education  ?  What  schools  did 
he  open?  39.  What  did  he  afterwards  do ?  Were  his  opinions  popular?  31.  How  has 
the  system  of  Epicurus  been  unfairly  represented?  His  doctrines  and  life?  32.  Who 
was  Pyrrho?  To  what  extent  did  he  carry  his  dubitation  ?  33.  To  what  age  did  his  life 
extend?  How  was  he  honored  by  the  Athenians  and  Eleans  after  nis  death?  By  what 
names  are  his  pupils  called? 
34     What  of  painting  and  sculpture  during  this  period?     Who  distinguished  tivm 


5*68  PERIOD  IV.  -404   B.  t.  TO   146   B.  U 

35.  Zeuxis  was  born,  it  is  said,  at,  Heraclea.  His  pictures  of 
Hercules  strangling  the  serpents,  of  Juno  Lucina,  and  of  Jupiter  sui- 
rounded  by  the  other  gods,  are  mentioned  by  the  ancients  as  having 
been  consummately  beautiful.  The  most  famous  piece  of  Timanthes 
is  his  Sacrifice  of  Iphigenia,  one  point  in  which  has  been  thought  to 
indicate  the  highest  skill. 

3G.  Instead  of  endeavoring  to  portray  on  the  canvass  the  features 
of  Agamemnon,  the  father  of  the  victim,  Timanthes  made  him  veil 
his  face  with  his  robe,  thus  leaving  the  conception  of  the  parent's 
agonized  expression  of  countenance  to  the  fancy  of  the  spectator. 

37.  Pamphilus,  and  the  other  painters  named,  are  represented  as 
having  produced  many  pieces  not  inferior  to  those  of  Zeuxis  and 
Timanthes.  Apelles  was  the  painter  of  Alexander  the  Great,  who 
generously  gave  him  the  hand  of  a  young  lady  with  whom  he  had 
fallen  deeply  in  love,  on  being  employed  to  take  her  portrait. 

38.  The  Greek  painters  possessed  but  four  colors  —  white,  red, 
yellow,  and  black.  It  has  been  generally  believed  that  they  could 
not,  with  these  limited  tints,  delineate  nature  in  all  her  various 
aspects ;  but  the  opinion  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  modern  painters  — 
Reynolds  —  leans  to  the  other  side.  He  imagines  it  to  be  quite  possi- 
ble to  fulfil  every  purpose  of  the  art  with  the  colors  mentioned. 

39.  Praxiteles  was  the  most  eminent  of  the  later  Grecian  sculptors.' 
He  excelled  in  the  soft  and  beautiful,  as  Phidias  did  in  the  grand  and 
sublime.  The  principal  works  of  Praxiteles  were  kept  at  Athens,  but 
the  Venus  of  Cnidus  was  the  most  celebrated  of  all  the  productions 
of  his  chisel,  and  for  a  long  period  of  time  attracted  visitors  from  all 
quarters  of  the  world. 

40.  The  statue  was  executed  in  Parian  marble,  and  stood,  accord- 
ing to  the  account  of  a  spectator,  in  a  temple  dedicated  to  the  same 
deity.  From  the  description,  the  sculptor  appears  not  only  to  have 
presented  a  form  of  exquisite  symmetry,  but  to  have  given  the  stone 
something  like  the  softness  of  flesh. 

41.  Polycletus  was  another  distinguished  cultivator  of  the  art  of 
statuary  in  this  age.  A  figure  of  Argive  Juno,  of  colossal  proportions, 
and  composed  of  gold  and  ivory,  was  his  most  famous  work. 

42.  Camachus,  Naucides,  and  Lysippus,  were  also  great  sculptors 
of  the  time,  and  combined  to  fill  the  temples  and  public  buildings  of 
the  Grecian  cities  with  models  of  beauty  and  grace,  executed  some- 
times in  marble,  and  sometimes  in  bronze.  That  ancient  writers  have 
not  eulogized  too  highly  the  works  of  these  sculptors,  is  proved  beyond 
all  doubt  by  the  perfection  evinced  in  the  few  relics  now  extant  of 
Grecian  art. 

selves  as  painters?  35.  What  of  Zeuxis?  His  paintings?  What  o  Timanthes' paint 
ings?  37.  What  of  Pamphilus  and  the  others?  Apelles?  38.  What  of  the  Greek  «*»K 
era?  What  has  been  thought  of  their  want  of  color?  39.  What  of  Praxiteles  t  In 
what  did  he  excel?  His  principal  works?  40.  What  of  the  Venus  of  Cnidus?  41 
What  of  Polycletus?  42.  Camachus,  Naucides,  and  Lysippus?  What  is  proved  -n  it* 
few  relics  now  extant  of  Grecian  art? 


FIF1H    PERIOD 


3oy 


PERIOD    V. 

fRGK     Tyf    CON(iJEST    OF  GREECE    BY    THE    ROMANS,   14G    B     C       *0    THB 
PRESENT    TIME. 


CHAPTER    CXXVI. 
Changes  in  the  Political  Condition  of  Grtete 

1  i\ 


Paul  preaching  at  Athens. 

I.  In  the  condition  Gf  a  humble  dependency  of  Rome,  Greece  ?3 
mained  for  upwards  of  four  succeeding  centuries.  It  is  remarkable, 
that,  although  politically  one  of  the  least  important  of  all  the  provinces 
composing,  during  that  period,  the  Roman  empire,  Greece  still  retained 
its  preeminence  in  learning  and  literature.  Enslaved  as  the  land  was, 
it  continued  to  be  the  great  school  of  the  time. 

CXXVI  —  I     In  what  condition  did  Greece  now  remain  1    In  what  did  it  rrta'n  it? 


•360 


rERIOl)  V.  — 146  B.  C.  TO  THE  PRESENT   TESTE. 


2.  No  Roman  youth  of  rank  and  wealth  was  held  to  have  perfect^ 
Sis  education  without  a  visit  to  Athens,  and  a  course  of  study  under 
•ts  professors  of  eloquence,  the  branch  of  polite  learning  then  chief!)- 
cultivated.  Thus,  from  its  share  in  the  training  of  such  men  as  the 
distinguished  orator  Cicero,  and  other  persons  of  note  in  the  annals  oJ 
Rome,  Greece  may  be  said  to  have  still  exerted  a  considerable  degree 
of  influence  on  the  alFairs  of  the  world.  But  although  it  instructed 
many  eminent  men  from  other  countries,  it  gave  birth,  in  this  age,  to 
few  or  none. 

3.  In  less  than  two  centuries  after  the  Roman  subjugation,  a 
brighter  and  more  glorious  liberty  than  Greece  had  ever  known,  even 
in  her  best  days,  through  the  preaching  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  was  set 
forth  \)  the  listening  Greeks  —  the  way  of  salvation  through  Jesus 
Christ.  He  daily  argued  with  the  Jews  and  with  the  more  pious  cit- 
izens in  the  synagogues  and  in  the  public  market  place.  Some 
mocked,  but  a  few  believed  him  to  be  sincere,  and  an  infant  church 
was  established  in  Greece,  which  retained  the  apostolic  faith  and 
purity  till  marred  by  the  bigotry  and  superstition  introduced  in  after 
times. 


~  ">jmr£; 


4.    Three  hundred  and  thirty  years  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  *i 


■preeminence?  2.  What  was  considered  necessary  to  complete  one's  education  ?  What 
»f  Cicero  and  other  person?  of  note?  3.  What  of  the  Apostle  Paul  ?  The  establishment 
at  an  infant  church?    4.  What  change  soon  took  place  in  the  condition  of  Greece? 


EASTERN   AND  WESTERN  EMPIRES.  3G1 

important  change  took  place  in  its  political  condition.  Constantine, 
the  reigning  Emperor  of  Rome,  removed  his  court  and  government  to 
the  Grecian  city  of  Byzantium,  which,  in  consequence,  received  the 
name  of  Constantinople. 

5.  This  step  was  ere  long  followed  by  the  division  of  the  empire 
into  two  parts,  the  one  called  the  empire  of  the  East,  and  the  other 
that  of  the  West,  from  the  relative  positions  of  their  respective  capi 
tals,  Constantinople  and  Rome. 

6.  The  Eastern  Empire,  of  course,  included  the  province  of  Achaia, 
or  Greece.  Having  himself  become  a  Christian,  Constantine  was  also 
the  instrument  of  introducing  that  faith  into  Greece,  as  well  as  other 
European  countries  under  his  dominion. 

7.  But  all  the  benefits  which  might  have  been  expected  to  accrue 
to  Greece  from  the  conversion  of  one  of  its  cities  into  the  site  of  a 
powerful  government,  were  prevented  or  rendered  of  no  avail  by  the 
tottering  state  of  the  imperial  power,  and  by  the  severe  and  long- 
protracted  struggles  which  soon  after  agitated  Europe. 

8.  New  tribes  and  races  of  men  appeared  upon  the  scene,  to  wrestle 
fur  superiority  with  the  Romans  and  other  nations  who  had  long  pos- 
sessed and  inhabited  the  countries  near  the  Mediterranean.  These 
intruding  tribes  came  from  the  northern  and  eastern  bounds  of  the 
same  continent,  and  were  called  by  the  various  names  of  Goths,  Ostro- 
goths, Visigoths,  Vandals,  and  Huns,  all  of  them  pastoral  races,  and 
of  a  simple,  brave,  and  warlike  character. 

9.  These  tribes,  as  they  increased  in  numbers,  gradually  encroached 
on  the  ancient  settlements,  and  entered  into  fierce  wars  with  the  rulers 
of  Rome.  Not  long  after  the  division  of  the  empire  into  Eastern  and 
Western,  Alaric,  King  of  the  Visigoths,  vanquished  Honorius,  the 
reigning  Emperor  of  the  West,  and  410  A.  C.)  sacked  and  plundered 
the  city  of  Rome. 

10.  The  Western  Empire  had  a  short  subsequent  existence,  but  was 
finally  extinguished  by  Odoacer,  another  of  these  barbarian  princes, 
(476  A.  C.)  Meanwhile,  the  Eastern  Empire  was  engaged  in  con- 
tention with  enemies  of  a  similar  order,  but  with  more  fortunate  issue 

11.  In  the  sixth  century,  (A.  C.,)  and  during  the  reign  of  Justinian, 
the  exertions  of  a  great  general  of  the  east,  named  Belisarius,  saved 
the  Constantinopolitan  sovereignty  from  the  attacks  of  the  Vandals 
and  other  powers.  This  successful  warrior  was  afterwards  ungrate- 
fully deserted  by  his  master,  in  his  old  age,  and  left  to  die  in  a  state 
of  beggary,  rendered  more  deplorable  by  the  loss  of  sight. 

12.  From  the  sixth  till  the  eleventh  century  (A.  C.)  along  line 
of  princes  held  in  succession  the  throne  of  Constantinople.  Cruel 
wars,  both  foreign  and  domestic,  marked  almost  every  reign  during 
this  period,  and  Greece,  its  people,  and  its  monuments,  suffered  griev- 
ously in  the  continued  turmoil.    The  Christian  church  was  now  estab- 

5.  How  was  the  empire  divided?  6.  What  did  the  Eastern  Empire  include?  Did 
Constantine  spread  the  Christian  faith  ?    7.  What  of  the  state  of  the  imperial  power  ? 

8.  What  new  tribes  appeared  upon  the  scene?    From  whence  did  these  tribes  come? 

9.  What  did  they  gradually  do?    What  of  Alaric?     10.  What  of  the  existence  of  the 
Western  Empire?    In  what  contention  was  the  Eastern  Empire  meanwhile  engaged 
11.  What  of  Belisarius?    His  death?     12.  What  was  the  state  of  the  empire  from  th* 

31 


362  PERIOD  V.  — 146  B.  C.  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

lished  in  a  firm  and  regular  form  in  tne  empire,  but  it  was  perpetually 
agitated  by  sectarian  discussions.  Upon  these,  all  the  literary  ability 
of  the  age  was  expended. 

13.  Meanwhile,  the  Arabians,  or  Saracens,  had  sprung  up  into 
note  in  Asia,  under  the  leadership  of  their  prophet  Mahomet,  (born 
569  A.  C.,)  and  had  wrested  from  the  Byzantine  emperors  the  greater 
part  of  the  possessions  once  held  by  them  in  Asia  and  Africa. 

14.  These  losses  were  rendered  more  galling  by  religious  differ- 
ences, as  the  Saracens  endeavored  to  spread  everywhere  the  doctrines 
of  Mahomet,  professed  by  themselves.  Among  other  countries,  Pales- 
tine, the  birthplace  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  the  scene  of  all  the 
occurrences  held  in  remembrance  and  veneration  by  its  followers,  had 
become  the  possession  of  the  disciples  of  Mahomet. 

15.  This  gave  rise,  in  the  eleventh  century,  to  the  crusades,  a 
series  of  expeditions  in  which  the  Byzantine  Greeks,  and  all  the 
Christian  nations  of  Europe  joined,  with  the  view  of  recovering  Jeru- 
salem from  the  Saracens.  None  of  the  various  crusading  expeditions 
were  successful,  but  they  had  the  effect  of  greatly  injuring  the  Greek 
empire  of  Constantinople. 

16.  One  of  the  crusading  princes,  Baldwin,  Count  of  Flanders, 
(1204  A.  C.,)  seized  on  the  city,  and  became  emperor  himself. 
Amidst  the  contentions  which  followed,  various  independent  sover- 
eignties sprang  up  within  the  already  narrowed  bounds  of  the  empire, 
and  left  it  an  easy  prey  to  the  Turks,  a  powerful  Asiatic  tribe,  who 
gained  a  footing  in  Europe  in  the  fourteenth  century. 

17.  The  Byzantine  empire  was  finally  overturned  by  the  Turks, 
(1454  A.  C.)  From  the  conquerors,  all  the  provinces  to  the  south  of 
the  Danube,  inclusive  of  Greece,  received  the  name  of  Turkey  in 
Europe. 


CHAPTER  CXXVII. 
Revolution  in  Greece, — Siege  of  Tripolitza. — Marco  Bozzari* 

1.  The  condition  of  Greece  now  became  much  more  grievous  than 
it  had  ever  been.  During  the  long  existence  of  the  Byzantine  empire, 
the  land  had  been  under  the  rule  of  sovereigns  who  spoke  the  Greek 
tongue,  who  boasted  of  Greek  descent,  and  who  professed  one  corn- 
men  religion  with  the  Greek  people. 

2.  But  now  that  people  became  the  slaves  of  strangers,  who  held 
a  different  faith  and  used  a  different  language.  Owing  to  these  cir- 
cumstances the  Greeks  and  Turks  never  mingled  into  one  nation  :  in 
heir  instance  the  relation  of  conquerors  and  conquered  never  ceased. 

For  more  than  three  centuries  succeeding  the  establishment  of  the 

sixth  to  the  eleventh  century  !  The  state  of  the  church?  13.  What  of  the  Saracens? 
Mahomet?  14.  What  of  the  doctrines  of  Mahomet?  15.  To  what  did  this  give  rise  in 
he  e'eventh  century?  Was  the  enterprise  successful?  16.  What  of  Baldwin  of  Flan- 
Jen?  1    17.   What  at  last  became  of  the  Byzantine  empire  ? 

CXXVII.  — 1.  What  of  the  condition  of  Greece  at  this  period?  What  of  its  sov- 
ereigns?    t.  What  of  the  intercourse  of  the  Greeks  and  Turks?    How  long  were  the 


REVOLUTION  IN   GREECE. 


363 


Tinlcs  in  Constantinople,  the  Grecian  people  were  systematically 
oppressed,  rather  than  governed,  by  pachas  or  lieutenants  fixed  by  the 
ruling  power  in  various  quarters  of  the  country. 


3.  No  sympathy,  at  least  ot  an  effective  nature,  appears  to  have 
been  excited  for  them  among  the  other  Christian  nations  of  Europe 
during  this  long  period.  But  at  length,  towards  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  spirit  of  resistance,  and  the  desire  for  inde- 
pendence, sprang  up  among  the  Greeks  themselves.  Secret  societies 
were  formed,  and  plans  laid,  for  effecting  the  emancipation  of  the 
country.  Numerous  associations  were  also  formed  for  furthering  the 
same  object  by  pecuniary  contributions. 

4.  Partial  outbreaks  of  this  spirit  occurred,  all  of  which  the  Turk- 
ish government  were  able  to  suppress,  until  the  year  1821,  when  the 
members  of  a  secret  society,  who  called  themselves  Hetarists,  proclaimed 
their  intention  to  liberate  Greece,  and  called  upon  all  the  friends  of 
liberty  and  freedom  to  assist  them  in  the  struggle.  The  call  was  an 
swered  from  every  hill,  mountain  and  valley,  and  preparations  foi 
striking  a  death-blow  at  the  power  of  the  Turks  began  throughout 
the  land.  The  rebellion  soon  reached  so  formidable  a  height,  that  the 
Turkish  Sultan  determined  to  resort  to  the  most  violent  measures  in 
his  power,  to  check  at  once  the  rising  insubordination. 

5.  With  a  view  to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  Greeks  he 
caused  the  venerable  Grecian  patriarch,  Gregory,  to  be  dragged  from 
the  church  to  the  palace,  and  to  be  hung  over  the  principal  entrance  foi 
two  days.  A  general  massacre  of  the  Greeks  at  Constantinople  foi 
lowed  ;  their  churches  were  broken  open  and  pillaged,  the  ornaments 
torn  down,  and  the  pictures  of  the  saints  destroyed.  Nine  bishops  were 
hung  with  Gregory,  and  men,  women  and  children  without  number 
slain. 

G.eeks  oppressed?  3.  How  did  Europe  look  upon,  the  struggle?  What  measures  were 
taken  among  the  Greeks  themselves?  4.  What  happened  in  the  year  1821  ?  How  was 
the  call  of  the  Hetarists  received  ?     What  4id  the  Turkish  Sultan  determine  to  do  ? 


364 


PERIOD  V.  - 146  B.  C.  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


6.    The  siege  of  Tripolitza  soon  followed      This  was  a  large   AX} 
belonging  to  the  Turks,  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  Peloponnesus 


Murder  of  the  Greek  Patriarch. 
It  was  at  this  period  the  refuge  ol  many  soldiers  and  Turks  who  He** 


Rich  Jem  of  Tripolitza. 
'rom  the  pursuit  of  the  Greeks.     The  Grecian  army  surrounded  the 

h.  \\ ha/,  of  the  patriarch  Gregory?    What  followed?    6.  What  of  Tripolitza?    Th# 


SIEGE   OF   TRIPOLITZA. 


365 


city,  havii.g  taken  possession  of  the  hills  immediately  xround  it.  The 
siege  lasted  for  six  months,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  Turks  wero 
almost  in  a  state  of  starvation.  A  pestilence  soon  broke  out  among 
them,  which  carried  off  hundreds  every  day. 

7.  In  this  state  of  things,  proposals  of  capitulation  were  made  to  the 
Greeks,  and  the  richest  men  in  •the  city  were  sent  as  deputies.  Among 
these  was  a  Jew,  who  wore  in  his  belt  a  pair  of  gold-mounted  pistols, 
sparkling  with  diamonds.  These  attracted  the  eye  of  Colocotroni,  the 
Grecian  commander.  "  Ha,"  he  exclaimed,  "  a  Jew,  and  armed  ;  this 
must  not  be!"  and  seizing  them,  slid  them  into  his  belt  as  a  lawful 
prize.  The  only  point  settled  between  the  Greek  chiefs  and  the  Turk- 
ish ambassadors  was  a  few  days'  truce  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  t^e 
terms  of  surrender  more  easily 


Greek  Soldiers. 

8.  On  the  third  day  of  the  truce,  a  party  ot  the  Greeks  venturing 
iear  the  walls  of  the  town,  observed  a  portion  of  it  unguarded  ;  they 
mounted  and  displayed  their  flag.     The  effect  was  instantaneous ;  a 

.siege  '/     7.  What  of  proposals  of  capitulation  1     What  passed  between  Colocotroni  arid  a 
'ew  ?    What  point  was  settled  1    8.  What  of  the  capture  of  Tripolitza  ?    The  loss  of  the 
21* 


,66 


PERIOP   V.  — 146  B.  C.  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


wild  rush  was  made  from  all  sides  ;  the  walls  were  scaled  w  about 
opposition ;  the  gates  were  opened,  and  a  confused  mass  of  soldiers, 
pouring  in,  shot  or  hewed  down  all  the  Turks  they  met.  The  latter 
fought  valiantly,  but  were  soon  overpowered  by  the  tide  of  Greeks. 
Fifteen  thousand  Turks  perished  by  famine  and  the  sword. 

9.  The  victorious  Greeks  now  scattered  themselves  about  the  coun- 
try, fighting  wherever  there  was  an  opportunity,  and  rendering  the 
whole  extent  of  Greece  one  vast  battle-ground.  The  warfare  of  the 
Greeks  during  this  struggle  was  carried  on  in  an  erratic  kind  of  man- 
ner, without  much  regular  combination  of  forces,  small  bodies  being 
banded  together  under  what  were  called  capitani,  or  chiefs,  many  of 
whom  rendered  themselves  eminent  by  their  virtues  or  valor. 

10.  For  two  years  the  struggle  continued  with  varying  success 
The  Greeks  never  despaired,  although  they  never  ceased  to  importune 
the  various  powers  of  Europe  for  assistance  against  their  enemies.  In 
1823,  Marco  Bozzaris,  the  patriot  of  Greece,  by  his  valor  and  his  devo- 
tion, incited  his  countrymen  to  still  greater  efforts,  and  made  his  name 
memorable  in  the  annals  of  Greece.     He  was  a  native  of  Suli,  a  dis- 


Bozzans  addressing  the  people 

tnct  of  Albania      He  had  500  Suliotes  under  his  command,  and  on 
the  evening  of  the  20th  of  August,  came  suddenly  upon  the  camp  of 

lurks?  9.  Wha;  did  the  Greeks  now  do  ?  10.  How  long  did  tne  struggle  continue  *  What 


MARCO  BOZZARIS. 


'667 


a  Turkish  pacha,  who,  with  12,000  soldiers,  was  reposing  in  perfect, 
unconsciousness  of  danger.  At  midnight,  Bozzaris  determined  to 
attack  them.  Addressing  a  few  words  of  encouragement  to  his  de- 
voted followers,  he  led  the  way  to  the  attack. 

11.  So  sudden  was  the  onset,  that  he  had  penetrated  to  the  pacha's 
tent,  before  the  Turks  recovered  from  the  panic  into  which  they  had 
been  thrown.  Resistance  was  vain,  and  the  victory  was  won.  But 
Bozzaris,  at  the  very  moment  of  entering  the  pacha's  tent,  received  his 
death  wound,  and  expired  soon  after  being  carried  from  the  field.  H> 
last  words  were,  "  Could  a  Suliot  leader  die  a  nobler  death  I" 


^M 


Death  oj  Bozzans. 

12.    They  fought  like  brave  men,  long  and  well, 

Tney  piled  that  ground  with  Moslem  slain. 
They  conquered,  but  Bozzaris  fell, 

Bleeding  at  every  vein. 
His  few  surviving  comrades  saw 
His  smile  when  rang  their  proud  hurrah, 

And  the  red  field  was  won. 
They  saw  in  death  his  eyelids  close, 
Calmly,  as  to  a  night's  repose, 
Like  flowers  at  set  of  sun. 

13.  Europe,  as  well  as  America,  was  now  beginning  to  take  an 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Grecians,  although  they  *ook  no  decided 
steps  in  their  behalf.  Many  private  individuals,  however,  from  France 
Russia,  England,  and  the  United  States,  repaired  to  the  scene  of 


»f  Marco  Bozzaris  *     11.  12.  His  attack  upon  a  Turkish  camp  ?    Hh  death?    13.  What 


^68 


PERIOD  V.  — 146  B  C.  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


action,  and  devoted  their  lives  to  the  cause  of  freedom.  Among-  those 
from  England  was  Lord  Byron,  who  arrived  at  Missolonghi  in  Jan., 
1824.     He  used  his  money  liberally  to  advance  the  cause  he  came  to 


Lord  Byron  am  nut  ting  ike  Greeks. 

serve,  and  was  prodigal  of  his  personal  exertions.  He  lived  but  a  fe\i 
months,  however,  after  his  arrival,  having  been  seized  with  cor.vul- 
sions,  which,  in  April,  1824,  terminated  fatally. 


CHAPTER    CXXVIII. 

Fall  of  Missolonghi.  —  Battle  of  Navarino. 

1.  The  force  of  the  Turks  was  now  centred  at  Missolonghi,  the 
principal  strong-hold  of  the  Greeks  in  iEtolia.  In  the  defence  of  this 
place,  the  spirit  of  the  Greeks  appeared  more  clearly  than  ever. 
They  sustained  a  siege  of  four  months  and  a  half,  during-  which  their 
determined  bravery  cost  the  lives  of  9000  Turks.  The  Turkish  army, 
being  soon  reinforced  by  the  arrival  of  Ibrahim  Pacha  with  a  large 
Egyptian  army,  at  length  reduced  the  place  to  a  heap  of  ruins,  and  the 
heroic  garrison  determined  to  force  a  passage  through  the  besiegers. 

2.  This  was  attempted  at  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  while 
the  sick,  aged  and  wounded,  with  many  women,  remained  behind  in  a 

was  Europe  now  beginning  to  do?      What  oi    private  individuals?      What  of  Lord 
By  roii? 

CXXVIII.  —  1.  Where  was  the  force  of  the  Turks  now  centred?  What  of  the  siege 
sustained  by  the  Greeks  ?  How  was  the  Turkish  army  reinforced  ?  What  did  the  gar 
/ison  of  Missolonghi  determine  to  do ?    2.  What  of  the  sic'*  and  wounded?    What  o< 


BATTLE  OF  NAVARINO.  36C 

arge  mill,  which  contained  a  quantity  of  powder,  and  which  they  pre- 
pared to  blow  up  as  soon  as  it  was  entered  by  the  Turks.  An  oh 
wounaed  soldier  took  his  seat  on  a  mine,  and  fired  it  when  they 
entered  the  town.  About  1800,  under  the  command  of  Noto  Bozzaris 
—  the  uncle  of  Marco,  —  escaped  in  safety,  and  afterwards  fought  a 
Athens. 

3.  The  fall  of  Missolonghi,  and  the  arrival  of  the  large  army  of  Ibra- 
him Pacha,  cast  a  cloud  over  the  prospects  of  Greece,  and  even  the 
most  zealous  in  the  cause  began  to  waver.  But  the  news  of  the  fate 
of  Missolonghi,  of  the  valor  of  those  who  cut  their  way  through  ten 
times  their  number,  and  of  the  fearlessness  and  intrepidity  of  the  old 
and  wounded  who  voluntarily  buried  themselves  in  the  ruins  of  their 
city,  on  reaching  Europe,  excited  everywhere  the  liveliest  interest. 

4.  In  France  this  interest  was  loudly  and  actively  expressed.  The 
Philanthropic  Society  to  aid  the  cause  of  the  Greeks  comprised  among 
its  members  the  most  prominent  men  of  the  time,  among  whom  was 
the  celebrated  Chateaubriand.  It  soon  became  the  custom,  in  all  the 
drawing  rooms  of  Paris,  for  the  lady  of  the  house  to  make  a  collection 
for  the  Greeks. 

5.  Then  followed  Germany.  King  Louis  of  Bavaria  signed  the 
Greek  subscription,  and  permitted  his  soldiers  to  fight  for  the  cause  of 
Greece.  Greek  orphans  were  educated  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  and 
France.  Wellington,  too,  had  subscribed  at  Petersburgh  the  paper 
which  provided  for  the  interference  of  the  three  great  powers.  England, 
France  and  Russia,  in  favor  of  the  Greeks.  Thus,  while  the  voice 
of  lamentation  was  loudest,  deliverance  was  slowly  approaching. 

6.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Egyptian  army,  under  Ibrahim  Pacha, 
overran  almost  all  parts  of  the  Peloponnesus,  and  changed  it  to  a 
desert,  without  obtaining  submission  from  a  single  village.  The  in- 
habitants suffered  all  the  horrors  of  famine  and  poverty,  rather  than 
enter  into  a  treaty  with  their  Mussulman  oppressors.  But  on  the  22d 
of  August,  1827,  there  appeared  in  the  bay  of  Navarino  the  allied 
fleets  of  England,  France  and  Russia.  The  great  battle  of  Navarino, 
between  the  combined  fleets  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Turkish- 
Egyptian  fleet  on  the  other,  was  fought  October  20  of  the  same 
year. 

7.  In  this  terrible  conflict,  the  last  sea-fight  on  a  large  scale  that  has 
been  fought,  the  Turkish  navy  was  nearly  annihilated.  Of  110  ships, 
part  were  burned,  part  driven  on  shore,  and  the  rest  disabled.  This 
disaster  did  not  at  all  produce  the  desired  effect.  The  court  of  Con- 
stantinople was  more  enraged  than  dismayed,  and  war  continued  to 
desolate  Greece  for  some  time  longer.  But  the  Russians  attacked  the 
Turks  by  land,  and  finally  compelled  their  sovereign,  on  the  14th  of 
September,  1829,  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  Greece. 

8.  Two  years  before  this,  in  1827,  a  national  assembly  was  called 

(hose  who  escaped?    3.  What  of  the  prospects  of  Greece  ?    The  interest  excited  ifi 
Europe?    4.  What  was  done  in  France? 

5.  Germany?  What  had  Wellington  done  at  St.  Petersburgh?  6.  What  was  the 
Egyptian  army  doing  in  the  mean  time  ?  The  arrival  of  the  allied  fleets  ?  The  battle  of 
Navarino?  7.  The  result  of  this  battle?  When  was  the  independence  of  Greece 
acknowledged?    8.  What  of  Count  Capo  d'Istrias?    His  assassination? 

24 


J7(J 


PfchlOD  V.  — 146  B.  C.  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


togethei  at  JEg'ma.,  and  a  president  chosen.  Count  John  Capo 
d'Istrias,  a  Russian,  was  appointed  the  head  of  the  new  republic. 
This  appointment  received  the  sanction  of  the  allied  powers,  and  Capo 
d'Istrias  assumed  the  reins  of  government.  His  qualifications  were 
great,  but  he  manifested  little  judgment  in  the  choice  of  his  friends. 
His  bad  advisers  created  him  enemies,  and,  in  1834,  he  was  assas- 
sinated while  entering  a  church 


Count  John  Capo  (V  Istnas  assassinated. 


9.  It  was  now  resolved  by  the  three  great  powers  which  had  brought 
about  the  pacification  of  the  country,  to  place  on  the  throne  some 
prince  connected  by  the  ties  of  relationship  with  the  royal  families  of 
tfurope.  It  was  offered,  on  the  20th  of  February,  1830,  to  Prince 
Leopold  of  Saxe  Coburg,  and  was  accepted  by  him  as  "  sovereign 
Prince  of  Greece."  He,  however,  resigned  this  honor  three  months 
after.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  same  year,  Otho,  a  young  prince  of  the 
house  of  Bavaria,  was  elected  King  of  Greece,  with  the  general  con- 
sent of  the  nation. 

10.  The  state  over  which  Otho  rules  is  far  from  being  a  powerful 
one,  its  whole  population  not  exceeding  900,000  persons;  but  since 
the  other  European  nations  have  bound  themselves  by  treaties  to  main- 
tain its  liberties,  the  land  of  Greece  may  now  be  considered  as  safe 
from  foreign  aggression.  At  the  same  time,  the  establishment  of  a 
domestic  government,  the   foundation   of  schools,    the   introduction 

9  What  was  now  resolved  by  the  three  powers?  To  whom  was  the  throne  of  Greece 
offered?  Who  was  finally  elected?  10.  What  of  the  state  over  which  Otho  rules? 
What  have  the  European  nations  bound  themselves  to  do?  What  encouraging  circum 
•lances  are  connected  with  the  present  condition  of  Greece? 


371 


CONCLUSION. 


of  the  press,  and  the  apparent  revival  of  a  taste  for  literature  encour» 
age  the  hope  that  this  long  oppressed  people  may  be  ere  long  in  a  fail 
way  to  regain  some  degree  of  that  distinction  which  was  possessed  bj 
their  ancestors. 


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